"2 of the nicest young ladies you'll ever meet in your entire life, playing against each other" - Rennae Stubbs on French Open finalists Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff
Tennis superstar Iga Swiatek won her second French Open title earlier this month, beating Coco Gauff in straight sets in the summit clash. While both players had an incredible tournament, the Polish star was a level above her peers recently. Gauff, meanwhile, reached the final of the doubles event as well.
Speaking on The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast, former doubles World No. 1 Rennae Stubbs spoke highly of both Swiatek and Gauff.
"Two of the nicest young ladies you'll ever meet in your entire life, playing against each other in that final, loving the game of tennis and they're both such nice young ladies, it's so nice to see that in any way," Stubbs said.
Swiatek had a dominant Roland Garros campaign, dropping just one set on her way to the title. The Australian waxed lyrical about the Pole and spoke about the mental space that the World No. 1 is in right now.
"You know what we saw in the final, Iga is just so unbelievably confident going into every match. You could just tell the tactical sense that Iga had out there, she knew exactly what she needed to do. We saw that every single time that Iga took that forehand down the line, the point went back into Iga's favour and we really saw her dismantle Coco," Stubbs said.
Let’s finish up this clay court season!! @caitlin_thompsand i dive right into the greatest of @RafaelNadal & the dominance of @iga_swiatek open.spotify.com/episode/3UNvoY…
Stubbs also spoke highly of Gauff, saying she's on the right track in her career.
"I would say you're 18 years of age, you've never been to a Grand Slam singles final, that is a very very different situation, takes a really special player to win their first-ever Grand Slam they enter in singles and I think she is fantastic, I think she's going on the right track, working with her new coach now a little bit more and also with her dad, and you know, I think she's doing everything the right way," Stubbs continued.
"We saw a couple of the weaknesses on the forehand, you could see the tactical response" - Rennae Stubbs on how Iga Swiatek beat Coco Gauff to the French Open title
Rennae Stubbs also shed light on the tactical side of things. She elaborated on how Iga Swiatek targeted Coco Gauff's forehand right from the start of the French Open final and broke it down.
"I think what we also saw was couple of the weaknesses on the forehand side of Coco which is certainly better on clay because she gets more time. But you could see the tactical response from Iga. It was backhand cross court, backhand cross court and as soon as she goes backhand down the line," Stubbs said.
"Because really Coco's backhand is just so so good that as soon as she could get it to Coco's forehand, she was taking that backhand straight down the line, forcing Coco to have to do something really special with her forehand," she said.
take in the Paris sights.
Good Morning Champion 👋
@iga_swiatek and Suzanne 🏆 take in the Paris sights.
#RolandGarros https://t.co/yCMkbbXdqO