AFTER guaranteeing the number one ranking win, lose or draw post-Roland Garros, Polish star Iga Swiatek fought past a determined Karolina Muchova in three sets. Swiatek looked to have a one hand on the cup midway through the second set, only for the Czech to fight back. Luckily for the top seed, she regained her composure and won, 6-2 5-7 6-4.

The match lasted two hours and 46 minutes, with Swiatek winning the first set 6-2. In that set, the Pole broke twice and hit five winners for five unforced errors as the powerful Muchova had 10 and 14 respectively. Swiatek’s consistency on serve was key though, only dropping 10 points for the set, including a far superior 74 per cent serving efficiency as Muchova ran at just 41 per cent.

It looked early in the second as if Swiatek was going to run away with the match. Breaking Muchova in the second game, the Pole quickly race to a 3-0 lead. Muchova played some inspiring tennis after that to break even, and the force it to 5-5. A couple of uncharacteristic unforced errors from the world number one in the 11th game proved her undoing, and the Czech served out the set 7-5.

The third set was the opposite to the first two as Muchova looked likely to cause a massive boilover. She broke Swiatek in the opening game and moved to 2-0. The celebrations did not last long as the Roland Garros two-time champion bounced back to win the next three games.

A crucial juncture came with Swiatek serving in the ninth game of the deciding set at 4-4. Conceding a break point off a Muchova winner, Swiatek was able to again steady and win three consecutive points to hold serve. Then unfortunately for the Czech, she played her worst service game of the match, hitting two unforced errors ad a doubble fault, with the latter coming on match point.

There was clear disappointment on Muchova’s face having let multiple chances slip, but Swiatek also had earlier chances and did not take them, with the Pole simply better for longer.

“In the third set I didn’t want to have any regrets about the second,” Swiatek said post-match. “I just kind of looked forward, and I said to myself, ‘Okay, you know what? I’m just going to give it all.’ No thinking, no analyzing. Just play my game, use my intuition, and that really helped.”