PARIS: Most times, Iga Swiatek's face is without a stroke of make-up and when she chooses not to, she doesn't even wear an expression. On occasion, after a question is posed to her, she pauses, perhaps searching for the right words. Then she gives in and her eyes light up spectacularly.
At the start of the tournament, she didn't know there was a chance she could lose the No. 1 ranking, which she had held for sixty consecutive weeks by then, at the end of the fortnight.
1/10:World No. 1 Iga Swiatek clinches third French Open title
2/10:First woman to successfully defend the Roland Garros title since 2007
<p>Iga Swiatek battled past Karolina Muchova 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 to win her third French Open title on Saturday and become the first woman to successfully defend the Roland Garros title in Paris since 2007.<br /></p>Getty Images
3/10:Third woman to win each of her first four Grand Slam finals
<p>The 22-year-old Swiatek is just the third woman in the Open era to win each of her first four Grand Slam finals, the Pole adding to her 2020 and 2022 titles in Paris and last year's US Open triumph. Monica Seles and Naomi Osaka are the only other players to accomplish the feat.<br /></p>Reuters
4/10:Youngest woman to claim back-to-back French Open titles
<p>Swiatek, the world number one from Poland, is also the youngest woman to claim back-to-back French Open titles since Monica Seles in the early 1990s.<br /></p>Getty Images
5/10:Henin last woman to win successive Roland Garros crowns
<p>Justine Henin was the last woman to win successive Roland Garros crowns when she captured her third in a row and fourth in total 16 years ago.<br /></p>Getty Images
6/10:Swiatek continues her domination in Paris
<p>Swiatek's latest coronation caps another dominant two weeks on the clay in Paris, where her record stands at 28 wins and two losses in five visits.<br /></p>Reuters
7/10:Muchova- Fourth lowest-ranked woman to reach final
<p>Muchova, at 43 in the world, was the fourth lowest ranked woman to reach the French Open final, her first championship match at a major.<br /></p>Getty Images
8/10:Muchova - A strong opponent
<p>However, the unseeded Czech had won all five matches in her career against players in the top three -- four of them at Grand Slams -- having stunned Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-finals.<br /></p>Getty Images
9/10:Swiatek had clearly done her homework before facing Muchova
<p>Muchova had outfoxed her rivals with her cunning variety throughout the tournament, but Swiatek had clearly done her homework since the Czech won their only other meeting in Prague in 2019.<br /></p>Getty Images
10/10:Muchova's double-fault hands Swiatek title
<p>Swiatek earned two championship points when Muchova dragged a forehand wide, the Czech succumbing in the most brutal of ways with a double fault to end a thrilling contest.<br /></p>APSwiatek likes to stay blinkered, especially during a Grand Slam. "I kind of stay in my bubble," she said. "The only thing I do is prepare for your questions. I'm not using a lot of social media and not reading a lot. If I didn't have briefs from my PR team, I wouldn't even sometimes know stuff. I know that it may be weird, because I should be aware of what's going on, but it's like the best way for me, to really be focused and do my job properly."
The big three debate in the women's game - centering around the trio holding the three majors Elena Rybakina, Aryna Sabalenka and Swiatek - is not something the 22-yearold wishes to engage in verbally. "I know that this is something you guys created and I understand that fans love that," she said, giving nothing away. "I 'm trying to just be focused on my work."
"I look at my clay court season and I see I really played consistently. I reached like quarterfinals, semifinals, finals. I won Stuttgart, I won this tournament. I'm kind of just focused on myself and I don't care about the other two players."
