Iga Swiatek passed Steffi Graf in number of wins at Roland Garros with 21. Only against Naomi Osaka in the second round the Polish tennis player look like she might drop out (she saved a match point), but then she recorded stunning victories over Anastasia Potapova (Russia) by 2-0 (6:0, 6:0), Marketa Vondrousova (Czech Republic) by 2-0 (6:0, 6:2) and now in the final.

The record for the shortest Grand Slam final ever in the Open Era was held in Paris in 1988, when Steffi Graf beat Natasha Zvereva by 2-0 (6:0, 6:0) in 34 minutes, but only 32 of those were games because of a short interruption due to rain.

“Iga, you are the biggest challenge in our sport. World No 1 and with so many Grand Slam titles, I have nothing to add but congratulations. These days in Paris were the best of my life, at least I have the doubles final tomorrow”, said Jasmine Paolini, who will fight for the doubles title with Sara Errani.

“Jasmine, you have improved a lot in recent weeks and I hope we have many more matches on such a stage. Thank you to everyone without whom I would not be here and who have supported me for so long. Thanks to everyone involved in the organization of the tournament. I love this place”, said Iga Swiatek, breaking down in tears at the award ceremony. “I almost got eliminated in the second round, so thank you to everyone who supported me during these two weeks. I won’t bore you any more, good luck to Paolini in the final tomorrow”, concluded she.

It was Iga Swiatek’s fifth Grand Slam final, earning her a fifth major title (she won the US Open in 2022). The 23-year-old world No 1 has won 22 of her last 25 finals, including all four this year in the WTA 1000 category – Doha, Indian Wells, Madrid and Rome.

Iga Swiatek became the third woman since World War II to win Roland Garros three times in a row after Monica Seles (1990-92) and Justine Henin (2005-07).

Jasmine Paolini lived the role of Cinderella in Paris, and the remarkable thing is that he also reached the final in doubles with Sara Errani. She didn’t make it past the second round of a Grand Slam until January this year, and is already a finalist, despite boasting only two WTA titles.

She is the fifth Italian in the top 10 (she will be No 7 on Monday) and the third finalist in Paris after Francesca Schiavone, who won the title in 2010 and lost it in 2011, and Sara Errani (runner up in 2012).

“When I started playing tennis, I was just enjoying myself. I wasn’t dreaming too much”, said Jasmine Paolini. “I dreamed of becoming a professional tennis player, but I never imagined being number one, a Grand Slam champion. I never dreamed of something so big. Never. That’s not so positive, I think, because it’s important to dream, but appetite comes with eating, I think step by step”, added the Italian tennis player.

She doesn’t understand the dreams of other players who had big goals from a young age.

“It’s surprising to me to see interviews from Nole (Novak Djokovic) when he was a kid saying he wanted to be No. 1 in the world and Wimbledon champion. I was looking at that and I was like, ‘It’s unbelievable that you could dream of this as a kid. It’s unbelievable to see Jannik Sinner, when he’s only 15, say that his dream is to one day top the world rankings. Things are different with me. I never dreamed of being in the final of a Grand Slam tournament, but here I am”, said Jasmine Paolini.

The Italian will play for the trophy against world’s number one and three-time French Open champion Iga Swiatek in Saturday’s final, giving her a chance to use her Polish language skills as her mother is from Poland.

“I’m trying to speak Polish, but it’s not easy. I’m a bit shy because I don’t feel really confident in it”, said Jasmine Paolini. “But of course when I see her I say congratulations on the title she can win. She does the same. She congratulated me after Dubai”, added she.

Paolini will go into the final full of confidence, having also reached the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at Roland Garros.

“When you’re not confident, it’s a little more difficult in tennis because it’s a really intellectual sport”, added she.

For Jasmine Paolini, the tournament in the French capital is her first major breakthrough in the Grand Slam. So far, she has only reached once the fourth round in Australia at the start of the year. At Roland Garros, she has reached the second round three times (2020, 2021 and 2023) and twice lost in the first (2019 and 2022).

In the semi-finals match, Jasmine Paolini showed an excellent forehand, landing 80% of her first serve, committing just 10 unforced errors and completely dominating the court against the 17-year-old Russian opponent.

The Italian tennis player broke in the fourth game and that was enough to win the first set 6:3. In the second set, Jasmine Paolini was even more convincing and gave only a game to her opponent.

By qualifying for the final, Jasmine Paolini guarantees a record ranking in the WTA rankings from next week and will occupy seventh place, and if she wins the title she will climb to fifth position.

Moreover, Jasmine Paolini will play in the doubles semi-final today with her partner Sara Errani against Elena-Gabriela Ruse (Romania) and Marta Kostyuk (Ukraine). Thus, she may play in both Roland Garros finals – singles and doubles.

Iga Swiatek started with a break in the first game, made another in the fifth game and easily won the first set 6:2.

Coco Gauff put up more serious resistance in the second set. The two exchanged one break, but the more assertive Iga Swiatek again broke her rival’s serve for 4:3. The next game lasted more than 10 minutes, with Iga Swiatek missing two match points. After that, the Polish tennis player had no problems on her serve and closed the match 6:4.

The victory is the 20th in a row for the three-time Roland Garros champion, who continues to dominate on red courts. In contention for the title, Iga Swiatek will face the Italian tennis sensation Jasmine Paolini, who eliminated Mirra Andreeva (Russia) after 2-0 (6:3, 6:1).

“She played really well, started a lot better and I started a little slow. She was aggressive from the first point”, said Elena Rybakina, adding: “I tried to fight back, but it wasn’t my best day”.

The 24-year-old Elena Rybakina complained during the tournament of bad sleep and allergies.

“I think my legs weren’t there in the end. No matter what the conditions, whether it was slow or fast, I had to move better. I’m not very happy with my performance, but that’s tennis”, said also the Kazakhstani tennis player Elena Rybakina.

The former Wimbledon champion will now turn her attention to the grass court season and the Paris 2024 Olympics.

The Belarusian tennis player lost in a nearly three-hour drama to the Russian teenage talent Mirra Andreeva with 1-2 (7:6, 4:6, 4:6) in two and a half hours of play.

Mirra Andreeva was the youngest Roland Garros quarterfinalist since Sesil Karatantcheva (Bulgaria), and now she has achieved the most significant victory in her career and can easily dream of her first Grand Slam trophy.

Mirra Andreeva made 43 winners and made only 20 unforced errors, which turned out to be key, because the traditionally aggressive Aryna Sabalenka recorded 40 winners, but also 40 unforced errors. The Russian player even managed to achieve a slightly better performance on the first serve, because this usual strong weapon of her rival did not give her the necessary advantage this time.

Aryna Sabalenka actually took the lead with a break in the third set, but allowed a momentary rebreak, and finally broke on her serve and from the second match point with a beautiful lob, Mirra Andreeva legitimized her victory.

The 17-year-old Russian will face Jasmine Paolini (Italy), who also sprung a surprise in Paris today, eliminating the fourth-seeded Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan).

With the elimination of second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka and the fourth-seeded Elena Rybakina, this year’s Roland Garros could not broadcast semi-finalists entirely from the first four tennis players in the scheme. The last time this happened was at Wimbledon in 2009.

Reigning US Open women’s singles champion and her partner Katerina Siniakova (Czech Republic) cruised to the semi-finals after an easy victory against Miyu Kato (Japan) and Nadiia Kichenok (Ukraine) by 2-0 (6:0, 6:2) in the doubles quarter-finals in Paris. Coco Gauff and Katerina Siniakova had not yet lost a set in the competition.

In contention for a spot in the final, they will face Americans double Desirae Krawczyk and Caroline Dolehide on Friday.

This will be Coco Gauff‘s third consecutive appearance in the doubles semifinals at Roland Garros, but she has not won the title.

The 20-year-old American also faces a clash against world number one Iga Swiatek (Poland) in the singles semi-finals on Thursday.

After an incredible first set, the Italian led twice with breaks in the second set, but eventually had to seal her victory in a decisive third set. For Jasmine Paolini, it was her first career Grand Slam quarterfinal, and she is now the fourth Italian in history to reach the semifinals in Paris.

Before her, this was achieved by Francesca Schiavone (champion in 2010), Sara Errani (finalist in 2012) and Martina Trevisan (semi-finalist in 2022). Sara Errani herself watched Jasmine Paolini’s victory, as the two were doubles partners in Paris and qualified for the quarterfinals.

Jasmine Paolini‘s season continues to be phenomenal after winning her first WTA 1000 title in Dubai earlier in the year, and has 21 wins and just 10 losses so far in the campaign.

The Italian will face the Russian teenage talent Mirra Andreeva, who brought surprise and defeated Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) by 2-1 (6:7, 6:4, 6:4).

The Russian tennis player became the second-youngest competitor this century to reach the quarterfinals of the women’s singles at Roland Garros (17 years and 27 days).

Mirra Andreeva’s opponent in the dispute for ranking in the semi-finals will be the second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus).

The Russian led 4:3 after a break in the first set, but allowed an equalizer for 4:4. On her second break in the set, Mirra Andreeva made no mistake and ended the set at 7:5.

In the second set, Mirra Andreeva took a 2:0 lead, Varvara Gracheva equalized to 2:2, but the Russian representative won four games in a row for the final 6:2.

“When the audience was chanting ‘Varvara, Varvara’, I tried to imagine that they were calling my name. That helped”, said Mirra Andreeva in a joking tone after the match.

Thus, the Belarusian tennis player qualified for the quarterfinals of the second Grand Slam tournament of the year.

Aryna Sabalenka started the match mercilessly, taking a quick 4:0 lead after two breaks. Emma Navarro was able to take her next two serves, but her opponent closed out the first set on her first opportunity. Aryna Sabalenka continued her dominance in the second set, breaking Navarro for 2:1, and then consolidated the lead on her serve. The Belarusian tennis player closed the match with another breakthrough for 6:3.

Aryna Sabalenka made 7 aces in the match, won 85% of the points on the first serve and 60% on the second. She also hit 376 winners to Emma Navarro’s 15.

Aryna Sabalenk is a former world нумбер оне in both singles and doubles by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA). Схе has won two major singles titles, at the 2023 and 2024 Australian Opens, and two major doubles titles at the 2019 US Open and the 2021 Australian Open, both partnering Elise Mertens. She has won 20 career titles in total, 14 in singles and six in doubles.