2023 Roland Garros Recap: Djokovic and Swiatek Reign Supreme in Paris

2023 Roland Garros Recap: Djokovic and Swiatek Reign Supreme in Paris

4 min read

Novak Djokovic and Iga Swiatek both captured their third Roland Garros titles over the weekend. While Djokovic had a simpler time dispatching Casper Ruud, Swiatek had to dig deep after being tested by Karolina Muchova.

Let’s recap an amazing fortnight of tennis.

Djokovic Wins No. 23

Djokovic (UTR Rating 16.37) made making history look easy. The 36-year-old eased past Casper Ruud (16.04) in Sunday's final, 7-6(1), 6-3, 7-5. Universal Tennis INSIGHTS had Djokovic pegged as the favorite going into the tournament, despite his UTR Rating being slightly below Daniil Medvedev's at the time.

"I knew that going into the tournament, going into the match, especially today, that there is history on the line," Djokovic said. "But I try to focus my attention and my thoughts into preparing for this match in the best way possible to win like any other match."

 

 

Djokovic, who made his Grand Slam debut 18 years ago, now holds the record for most titles at 23. He’s the only member of the Big Three (which includes Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal) to have won each major at least three times.

"I leave those kind of discussions of who is the greatest to someone else," the Belgrade native said. "I have, of course, huge faith and confidence and belief in myself and for everything that I am and who I am and what I am capable of doing. So this trophy obviously is another confirmation of the quality of tennis that I'm still able to produce."

Djokovic is the oldest men’s singles champion in Paris, and first player, male or female, to win more than 10 majors after his 30th birthday.

Swiatek Victorious Once More

Swiatek (UTR Rating 13.28) was finally tested in Paris and at the worst possible moment. The 22-year-old Pole comfortably led Karolina Muchova (12.87) in the final by a set and 3-0 when the Czech fought back and even went so far as to break serve in the third set. Swiatek still managed to close out the win for her third Roland Garros and fourth major overall by a tight 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 scoreline.

"It's hard to describe. But a lot of happiness," Swiatek said. "I felt suddenly tired of these three weeks. Maybe my matches weren't like physically exhausting, but it's pretty hard to kind of keep your focus for these almost three weeks. And also the whole swing. Since Stuttgart, I haven't been home. So I'm happy that I finished the whole clay-court swing so well and that I kind of survived. I guess I'm never going to kind of doubt my strength again, maybe because of that."

Roland Garros champion Iga Swiatek
Iga Swiatek retains her WTA No. 1 ranking after defending her title in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Muchova was unseeded because injury layoffs had affected her WTA ranking over the past two seasons. Earlier this spring, the 26-year-old was in the Top 10 rankings based on UTR Rating and is up to No. 7 now. Thanks to her first Grand Slam final appearance, Muchova is also up to a career-high WTA ranking of No. 16.

INSIGHTS had chosen Aryna Sabalenka (13.20) as most likely to win before matches began in Paris, and she came close. Losing a tight semifinal to Muchova after leading 5-2 in the third set.

Doubles Drama Ends in Delight

Miyu Kato closed out a rollercoaster fortnight by capturing the mixed doubles title with Tim Puetz. Kato was disqualified from her women’s doubles third-round match after accidentally hitting a ball girl. The incident went viral and spurred a debate.

Kato put the difficult situation behind her and teamed with Puetz to defeat Bianca Andreescu and Michael Venus in a third-set deciding tiebreak for the mixed doubles trophy.

 

 

In the women’s doubles final, the unseeded pairing of Hsieh Su-Wei and Wang Xinyu took out No. 10 seeds Taylor Townsend and Leylah Fernandez.

Townsend is returning to the tour following the birth of her son and began her comeback on the UTR Pro Tennis Tour (PTT) last year. She’s now appeared in two Grand Slam doubles finals in the past year.

 

 

Texas A&M alum Austin Krajicek snagged his first doubles Grand Slam trophy when he and partner Ivan Dodig defeated Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen. Last year, Krajicek and Dodig failed to convert three match points in the final, but this year’s victory tastes even sweeter as Krajicek reaches the No. 1 doubles ranking on the ATP Tour for the first time.

 

 

Prizmic and Korneeva Win Junior Crowns

Dino Prizmic captured the boys’ title by defeating Juan Carlos Prado Angelo in straight sets.

Prizmic is the first Croatian to win the boys' title in Paris since Marin Cilic in 2005. The 17-year-old already has an ATP ranking inside of the Top 300, while girls' champion Alina Korneeva is No. 331 on the WTA Tour.

 

 

Just like Djokovic, Korneeva made it two Grand Slams in a row. The 2023 junior Australian Open champion won the junior Roland Garros title with a win over Lucciana Perez Alarcon. Just 15 years old, Korneeva is the first girl to win two Grand Slams in one season since 2013.

A few more UTR Pro Tennis Tour (PTT) stars had big runs in Paris with USC's Learner Tien reaching the semifinals and incoming Harvard freshman Cooper Williams appearing in the quarterfinals. The PTT is a developmental tour for players looking to get multiple matches and guaranteed matches each week as they pursue professional tennis.



Back to blog