5 female tennis players who have won 20 or more consecutive matches at French Open in the Open Era ft. Chris Evert, Iga Swiatek
The French Open is the only Grand Slam that is played on clay. As playing tennis on clay courts requires the players to have the ability to play a long rally and grind out points, winning games can be a tedious task for anybody.
It is more so in case of women, who have to toil hard at Roland Garros despite having the luxury of best-of-three format compared to the best-of-five format for men. Still, there have been quite a few women who have enjoyed prolonged success on the red clay of Paris. In this article, we will take a look at five women who have won more than 20 consecutive matches at the French Open in the Open Era:
#5. Steffi Graf – 20 (1987-1989
Graf was an unstoppable force in women’s tennis in the late 1980s. She won the Golden Slam in 1988, a feat that is yet to be repeated. She won her maiden title at Roland Garros in 1987 as a teenager, when she beat World No. 1 Martina Navratilova in three sets in the final.
Graf then had a fantastic season in 1988 and beat Natasha Zvereva 6-0, 6-0, in a 34-minute French Open final. Zvereva won only 13 points in the match, making it the shortest Grand Slam final in Open Era. The German great looked certain of winning her third consecutive title in 1989, but 17-year-old Arantxa Sanchez Vicario beat her in three sets to win her maiden title. Graf’s 20-match winning streak in the Paris Major thus came to an end.
#4. Iga Swiatek – 20* (2022-present)
Right now, Iga Swiatek, a 23-year-old Polish player ranked #1 in the world, is clearly the best player on clay courts. Today, she beat Coco Gauff of the United States in the semifinals to book a place in the final of the ongoing French Open. If Iga Swiatek triumphs, it will mark her fourth victory on Paris's red clay in five years.
Iga Swiatek beat Jessica Pegula of the United States in straight sets to win her second French Open crown in 2022. She then repeated the act next year by beating Karolina Muchova in the final, and she is now on the verge of securing a hat-trick this year.
However, she had to save a match point against Naomi Osaka at the current French Open, which was perhaps the only occasion in the previous two years at Roland Garros where she appeared vulnerable.
#3. Justine Henin – 24 (2005-2010):
Serena Williams was the best female tennis player in the 2000s, but Henin was the best on clay. She won her second French Open title in 2005 and did not lose a single match there over the next two years.
Henin beat Mary Pierce, Svetlana Kuznetsova, and Ana Ivanovic in the finals of 2005, 2006, and 2007, respectively. However, her sudden retirement in 2008 meant that she did not participate in the 2008 and 2009 editions of the tournament.
She made a comeback to tennis in 2010 and reached the fourth round of the French Open, thereby extending her winning streak there to 24 matches. She lost to Samantha Stosur in the fourth round, which was her first loss at Roland Garros since 2004.
#2. Monica Seles – 25 (1990-1996):
Just like Henin in the 2000s, Seles was the best player on clay in the early 1990s, despite Graf being arguably the best player overall. She won three consecutive French Open titles from 1990 to 1992, with her victory in the 1990 final coming at the expense of Graf. She beat Sanchez Vicario in the 1991 final and her thrilling victory over Graf in the final in 1992 remains an all-time classic.
However, after being stabbed in Hamburg in 1993 by an obsessed Graf fan, Seles' career was never the same. She stayed away from tennis for more than two years and did not play in the 1993, 1994, and 1995 editions of the French Open, among other tournaments.
She took part at Roland Garros in 1996, but lost to Jana Novotna in straight sets in the quarterfinal. She did, however, manage to increase her winning streak there to 25 matches prior to the loss.
#1. Chris Evert – 29 (1974-1981)
Just as Rafael Nadal is to men's tennis on clay, Evert is to women's tennis on it: the greatest. She was the reigning queen on clay from the mid-1970s to mid-1980s, winning seven French Open titles in the process.
She won back-to-back French Open titles in 1974 and 1975, beating arch-rival Martina Navratilova in the final in 1975. However, she then abstained from taking part in the tournament for the next three years. It was mainly because she was a part of the World TeamTennis, a mixed gender professional tennis league.
However, she made a comeback to Roland Garros in 1979 and won consecutive titles once again. In 1981, Evert proceeded to the semifinals but was ultimately defeated by Hana Mandlikova.
However, Evert’s record of 29 consecutive wins at Roland Garros will take some beating. Though Iga Swiatek might be able to break it, it will be rather challenging.