Swiatek extends winning streak to 28 matches

ROME • No other women's player will be going into next week's French Open in greater form than Iga Swiatek.

The world No. 1 yesterday retained her Italian Open title, overwhelming Ons Jabeur 6-2, 6-2 in Rome to clinch her fifth consecutive WTA Tour crown and extend her Tour-leading win streak to 28 matches to overtake Serena Williams' run as the fourth-longest of the century.

This was the Pole's fourth victory in as many WTA 1000 finals this year after Doha, Indian Wells and Miami, with the Madrid Open being the only exception as she skipped it to rest.

Madrid champion Jabeur had been expected to pose a challenge as the Tunisian was also one of the most in-form players on the tour, racking up 11 match wins in a row.

However, the world No. 7 was no match for the 2020 French Open champion in the pair's first meeting on clay.

Swiatek was barely troubled in the opening stages of the match and comfortably held her serve to race into a commanding 3-0 lead.

Jabeur, 27, tested her 20-year-old opponent at 4-2, but Swiatek dug herself out of a 0-30 hole to hold from deuce and take the game before wrapping up the set on her second set point after a forehand failed to clear the net.

The second set started off in similar fashion, with Jabeur proving no match for Swiatek's power and mobility from the baseline as a 4-0 lead was quickly established.

Jabeur won the next two games and looked set for another.

But Swiatek held from 0-40 down, saving four break points and closing out the game on her first serve and a netted backhand ended the resistance.

Swiatek is now 7-1 this year against top-10 opponents, reeling off seven successive wins, and her only defeat was by the now-retired Ashleigh Barty, the woman she succeed at the top, in the Adelaide semi-finals back in January.

She is also the first player to win four or more WTA 1000 titles in a single season, after Williams won five in 2013.

Her imperious form marks her as the big favourite for Roland Garros, particularly as clay is her favourite surface.

But an emotional Swiatek, who collapsed on the red clay at Foro Italico and broke down in tears after securing the title, will first celebrate by indulging in a cheat meal.

"Today I'm going to celebrate with a lot of tiramisu, no regrets," she told the crowd. "See you at the French Open."

In the men's final, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Novak Djokovic yesterday faced off in a repeat of last year's French Open final, with Djokovic again emerging the winner and his seventh victory in nine meetings.

But unlike that Roland Garros showpiece five-set match, this was straightforward for the Serb, who won 6-0, 7-6 (7-5). Not only did Djokovic secure a record-extending 38th Masters 1000 title and his his first ATP Tour crown of the year, he also did not drop a set here.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS