French Open: Iga Swiatek beats Karolina Muchova to win third title

Iga Swiatek built a big lead in the French Open final, then overcame a second-set crisis of confidence and a third-set deficit before righting herself and defeating Karolina Muchova 6-2, 5-7, 6-4

Paris: Iga Swiatek built a big lead in the French Open final, then overcame a second-set crisis of confidence and a third-set deficit before righting herself and defeating Karolina Muchova 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 on Saturday to collect her third championship at Roland Garros and fourth Grand Slam title.

The No. 1-ranked Swiatek raced to a 3-0 lead after just 10 minutes in Court Philippe Chatrier — taking 12 of the initial 15 points — and then was ahead 3-0 in the second set, too, before Muchova made things more intriguing.

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With Swiatek looking out of sorts and seeking advice from her coach between points, Muchova grabbed five of six games on the way to pulling even at a set apiece.

Muchova carried that momentum into the deciding set, going ahead 2-0.That’s when Swiatek returned to her usual brand of crisp, clean tennis, scurrying around the red clay with sublime defense and taking advantage of Muchova’s repeated mistakes.

Still, Swiatek again found herself behind by a break at 4-3 in the third set before grabbing the last three games