French Open winners: Men's and Women's singles champions

Iga Swiatek tops Jasmine Paolini for 4th French Open title

PARIS -- Iga Swiatek continued her relentless dominance on clay as she won her fourth French Open title and fifth Grand Slam by trouncing Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 6-1 at Roland Garros on Saturday.

It took Swiatek just 68 minutes to close this final out in an utterly ruthless display against Paolini, who was in her first Grand Slam final.

Swiatek becomes the third woman to win three French Open titles in a row in the Open era -- joining Monica Seles (1990-92) and Justine Henin (2005-07).

And it was Swiatek's fourth French Open title in five years, having triumphed in 2020, 2022, 2023 and now 2024. At just 23 years old, she's now three off equaling Chris Evert's record of seven women's singles titles at Roland Garros. Fittingly, it was Evert and Martina Navratilova who handed over the Suzanne Lenglen trophy to the new master of clay.

"I think looking at the whole situation and the fact that during the finals there is sometimes a lot of pressure, I think it was a really good match," Swiatek said. "Obviously, I mean, I got broken at the beginning, so it wasn't maybe perfect, but I think the level was pretty high. It wasn't so easy as the score says. Yeah, I think I played pretty well considering all these facts and the pressure."

She added: "When I talk about pressure, I usually put pressure on myself because of pressure of the outside. Obviously I'm a perfectionist, so there is always pressure behind me.But I think I'm fine with handling my own pressure. It's when the pressure from the outside hits me, then it's a little bit worse. But I managed it really well at this tournament.

"It was an emotional win because I felt, you know, a lot of stress yesterday and today in the morning. And I knew if I'm going to just focus on tennis, I can kind of fight through it, and at the end it all went how I wanted. So I just felt really proud of myself."

Paolini, in contrast, was left saying the final against Swiatek was the "most challenging match" of her career.

Swiatek was the overwhelming favorite heading into the final. She had to survive a match point in her second-round tie with Naomi Osaka, but from there, she was in complete control -- including winning her fourth-round match against Anastasia Potapova 6-0, 6-0 in just 40 minutes. She then overcame 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova in the quarterfinals and Coco Gauff in the final four, winning that 6-2, 6-4.

Paolini was an outsider for the title heading into the competition, but she put together a brilliant run that included knocking out 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina in the quarterfinals and then 17-year-old prodigy Mirra Andreeva in the semifinals.

After a tense start, Paolini broke Swiatek in the third game, only for Swiatek to then find her rhythm, closing out the first set 6-2 with Paolini winning just a further four points after breaking Swiatek back in the third game. In the second set, Swiatek showed no signs of slowing up, taking it 6-1 in a ruthless display.

The only hiccup for Swiatek was her struggling to talk in the postmatch ceremony as she was distracted by the sound of her own voice reverberating around Philippe Chatrier, but she had Evert on hand for some broadcasting advice. But when it comes to being on court, she knows how to navigate anything and everything thrown at her.

Afterward, she referred to that Osaka match again as being the turning point in her tournament. "I have plenty of experiences where I felt stress or I knew that this match is going to be really important and a high-pressure match," she said. "But I was able to manage it, and then you can just use it when you have next situations like that.

"Because it's not like, oh, it's my fifth Grand Slam final, I'll have no stress, you know, because of that. Usually, it doesn't work like that. Yeah, so for sure the experience helps. [But] it gives me even more positive feelings that I manage everything properly."

For Paolini, she said she enjoyed the experience and was pleased with what she had achieved at Roland Garros, with her ranking up to a career-high No. 7 in the world. But Swiatek was just on another level.

"Iga is playing unbelievable here; she's taking the balls early and can defend really well," Paolini said. "To play her here is something different. She's already won four titles at 23 years old; these numbers are not normal. I've never played someone with this intensity before in my life. It's unbelievable. She's an unbelievable player. It was the most challenging match I've played in my career."

Paolini now resets ahead of her women's doubles final Sunday, where she'll play alongside Sara Errani against Gauff and Katerina Siniakova.

For Swiatek, she'll turn her attention to Wimbledon and grass, the last remaining surface on which she has yet to win a Grand Slam.

"I felt last year I could adapt quicker to grass, but we need to take care of my physicality too," Swiatek said. "We'll see what the plans are. But the biggest progress I can make on grass is using my serve better, but I don't expect a lot as tennis is different on grass. Let's see; I'll work hard to play better there."

Carlos Alcaraz outlasts Alexander Zverev to win French Open

PARIS -- Carlos Alcaraz became the youngest man to win Grand Slam titles on all three surfaces after defeating Alexander Zverev in five sets to capture the French Open on Sunday.

The two battled for 4 hours, 19 minutes, but Alcaraz came through 6-3, 2-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2. His 2024 French Open title sits alongside his triumphs at the 2022 US Open and at last year's Wimbledon.

"Winning a Grand Slam is always special," Alcaraz said afterward. "Winning your first in every Grand Slam is always super special.

"But in Roland Garros, knowing all the Spanish players who have won this tournament and be able to put my name on that amazing list is something unbelievable. Something that I dream about being in this position since I was started playing tennis, since I was 5, 6 years old."

The triumph secures Alcaraz's spot in tennis history, as he becomes the seventh player to win a Slam event on all three surfaces -- following in the footsteps of Jimmy Connors, Mats Wilander, Andre Agassi, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. But he's the youngest to achieve the feat, having turned 21 in May.

Nadal completed his trio at 22 years, 7 months when he won the 2009 Australian Open.

Alcaraz said the French Open meant the most to him, given that he came into the competition with injury concerns.

"Probably this one is the moment that I'm really proud about myself, because everything that I have done the last month just to be ready for this tournament with my team, a lot of talks with them," Alcaraz said. "So I'm going to say this one is the most that I am proud about myself."

Nadal, who won the singles title 14 times at Roland Garros, offered his congratulations after the match, posting on X: "Congratulations Carlos for this immense victory!!!! Big!!!! Very happy for your successes!!!"

It was Zverev's second Grand Slam final, but he has now lost both in five sets, having fallen in the 2020 US Open final to Dominic Thiem.

"It is what it is," Zverev said. "Look, he played fantastic. He played better than me the fourth and fifth set. It's how it is. I felt like this Grand Slam final I did everything I could. At the US Open I kind of gave it away myself. It's a bit different."

Alcaraz, meanwhile, became the first man at the French Open to win five-set matches in both the semifinal and final since Rod Laver in 1962 -- and just the eighth to do it in any Grand Slam event since the Open era began in 1968.

Alcaraz came into this event managing an arm injury that had forced him to withdraw from the Monte Carlo Masters and Barcelona Open. He lost in Madrid to Andrey Rublev and withdrew from Rome with the same injury. So he had only four matches on clay coming into the tournament, but he came through the opening rounds in confident form despite saying he was unable to hit his forehand at full power. He dispatched J.J. Wolf, Jesper De Jong, Seb Korda, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Stefanos Tsitsipas en route to a semifinal with incumbent world No.1 Jannik Sinner, but Alcaraz came through 2-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Zverev won the Italian Open and then opened his Roland Garros campaign by defeating 14-time champion Nadal in the first round. He then got past David Goffin, Tallon Griekspoor, Holger Rune, Alex de Minaur and Casper Ruud to book his spot in the final. While Zverev was playing at Roland Garros, a trial was being held in his home country of Germany, where he had been accused of domestic abuse by a former girlfriend. On Friday, it was announced that Zverev had agreed to an out-of-court settlement.

Alcaraz started Sunday's match as the better of the two players, taking the first set 6-3. He was then up a break in the second, only for Zverev to win the next five games. The same thing happened in the third set, with Alcaraz up 5-2, only to lose 7-5.

Alcaraz had treatment on his left leg during the break, and continued to have physio work at changeovers.

"It was something that I started to feel in the semifinal," Alcaraz said. "Playing five sets, it's demanding. After the match you're going to feel something. If not, you're not human."

After taking the fourth set 6-1, Alcaraz started the fifth in the ascendancy and went up a break, but Zverev threatened to break back.

Down 2-1, Zverev had two break points, and thought he'd won the game when Alcaraz double-faulted at 15-40. The ball was called out, only for umpire Renaud Lichtenstein to overrule that and deem it in, meaning the point would be replayed.

Zverev claimed later that he'd seen footage showing that the ball was in fact out.

"I mean, look, there's a difference whether you're down 3-1 in the fifth set or you're back to 2-all. That's a deciding difference," Zverev said afterward. "Yeah, it's frustrating in the end, but it is what it is. Umpires make mistakes. They're also human, and that's OK. But of course, in a situation like that, you wish there wouldn't be mistakes."

From there, Alcaraz saved four break points in that game and went on to close out the fifth set to secure the title and improve his record to 11-1 in five-set matches.

"I know that when I'm playing a fifth set, you have to give everything, you have to give your heart," Alcaraz said. "In those moments, it's where the top players give their best tennis. I want to be one of the best tennis players in the world, so have to give my extra in those moments and show the opponent I'm fresh -- like I'm playing in the first game of a match."

Alcaraz now plans to get a tattoo of Sunday's date -- June 9, 2024 -- to go with the dates from his other two Grand Slams.

"I will do it for sure," said Alcaraz, whose US Open tattoo is on the back of his neck. "[This tattoo] will be on the left ankle, Wimbledon was on the right one, this will be on the left one, with the date of today. It's something I'm going to do. I don't know if it'll take a month, or two months, but I'll do it.

"I just want to keep going, and let's see how many Grand Slams I'm going to take at the end of my career. Hopefully reach the 24, but right now I'm going to enjoy my third o