The love affair between Roland-Garros and Swiatek continues: "I needed to believe that it would be possible to win again".

On Saturday, Iga Swiatek claimed her fifth Grand Slam title, the fourth in five years at Roland Garros (2020, 2022, 2023, 2024). After a thunderous tournament, the Polish player didn't falter in the final, giving a real tennis lesson to a courageous Jasmine Paolini (6-2, 6-1 in 1h08).

In the end, the world No.1 crushed all her opponents, with the exception of Naomi Osaka, against whom she came within a point of defeat (7-6, 1-6, 7-5). Excluding the second round, the 23-year-old has a frightening statistical record.

In her 6 remaining matches, she didn't lose a set, conceded only 20 games (i.e. less than 2 games conceded per set), broke 26 times (i.e. more than 4 successful breaks per match) and conceded her serve only 4 times (less than once per match).

Although very serene on the court, the Polish player is nonetheless an emotional one, as she clearly demonstrated at the post-match prize-giving ceremony. In a speech punctuated by several interruptions due to her own emotion, she thanked just about everyone.

First and foremost, Swiatek congratulated her victim of the day on a fine tournament: "Congratulations on a wonderful tournament, Jasmine. I'm really impressed by the way you've played over the last two weeks, and I think you can really do a lot with your game, especially on clay.

I hope we'll have many more meetings and possible matches. Congratulations also to your team."

As is often the case at prize-giving ceremonies, the 23-year-old champion naturally had a word for her staff, to whom she attributes a major role in her success: "Now, I want to thank my team and my family, because without them, I wouldn't be here.

It's not easy to play for all these weeks and especially to keep your highest level, so thank you for supporting me every day and being with me whatever happens. Yes, I'd be nothing without you.

More emotional than ever, she ended her speech with a few touching words about her journey, which had seemed far trickier than anyone might have thought: "It was crazy, I almost walked out of the tournament in the second round (against Naomi Osaka), so thank you for supporting me and staying with me. It's been a tough year and I needed to believe that it was possible to win again.

It was a very emotional tournament for me. Just, thank you for supporting me and also all those who were at home, my sister, my family, my sponsors, thank you for their unfailing support."