Iga Swiatek recently declared that she would shortly be retiring due to

It’s difficult to see anyone stopping Iga Swiatek from winning a fourth French Open championship if she maintains her current level of play.

The top-seeded Swiatek defeated No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka in their most recent match, taking the Italian Open final 6-2, 6-3 on Saturday to claim her third championship on the red clay of Rome.

At the Foro Italico, Swiatek won her 12th match of the tour without dropping a set. She was nearly as impressive in a 6-4, 6-3 victory against No. 3 Coco Gauff in the semifinals.

Next weekend marks the commencement of Roland Garros, where Swiatek hopes to win a record-tying third consecutive title in Paris and a fourth overall.

“I am obviously confident. I think I’m hitting some really good tennis,” Swiatek remarked. However, that doesn’t alter my desire to maintain my modesty and my laser-like focus on completing each task one step at a time. Grand Slams are not like other events. The pressures on and off the court are different.

“You have to win these seven difficult matches, so I don’t take anything for granted. As in Madrid and Rome, I’ll just put in a lot of work and see what happens.”

During the award presentation, Sabalenka congratulated Swiatek before saying to her opponent, “I hope we’re going to make it to the final in Roland Garros, and I’m going to get you there.” Sabalenka then went on, “Just kidding. All I’m going to do is strive to improve upon today.”

Swiatek responded, “We’ll see about that Roland Garros final,” during her address.

Since Serena Williams in 2013, Swiatek became the first female to accomplish the “dirt double” of winning Madrid and Rome consecutively.

The final was a far cry from the Madrid Open final two weeks prior, where Swiatek had to save three match points to defeat Sabalenka in a third-set tiebreaker.

“I didn’t feel like I could handle everything, Madrid. Here, I guess I did,” Swiatek remarked. “I felt like I could play even better with this surface and this feeling.”

In the fourth game, Sabalenka slammed her racket onto the clay due to Swiatek’s early pressure, forcing her to retrieve a new stick from her bag.

Even when Sabalenka appeared to be in control, Swiatek was able to change the dynamics and force mistakes from the hard-hitting player with her exceptional footspeed and crisp groundstrokes.

“She moves so beautifully. You’re always aware that you have to establish and complete the point, according to Sabalenka. Because I know she’ll get to it, I occasionally try to overhit balls. She is exceptionally skilled in all facets of the game.”

In the first two service games of the second set, Sabalenka raised her game, but Swiatek saved seven break points. While Sabalenka recorded 18 wins to Swiatek’s 11, Sabalenka made a staggering 28 unforced mistakes to Swiatek’s meager 11.

On her second match point, Swiatek smashed a backhand return up the line. After shaking hands with Sabalenka, Swiatek dropped her white racket to the court and started jumping about in excitement after her feeble reply fell into the net.

Swiatek’s career record in Rome was increased to 20-2 by adding victories in 2022 and 2021. At 22, the Polish player could get close to Chris Evert’s women’s record of five Italian Open victories. With ten Rome championships, Swiatek’s idol, Rafael Nadal, owns the overall record.

Swiatek said, “There’s going to be a tiramisu in here if I win next time,” unscrewing the trophy cup’s cover.