Iga Swiatek beats Karolina Muchova in the French Open final for her 3rd trophy in Paris, 4th Slam

PARIS: Iga Swiatek suddenly seemed lost in the French Open final. Her strokes were awry. Her confidence was gone.

Her big early lead vanished, too. She kept looking up into the stands, seeking guidance from her coach and her sports psychologist. So much was amiss right up until she was two games from defeat against unseeded Karolina Muchova on Saturday.

And then, when she needed to most, Swiatek transformed back into, well, Swiatek. The No. 1 player in women’s tennis for more than a year.

The defending champion at Roland Garros. Aggressive. Decisive.

Full of clarity. Swiatek overcame a second-set crisis and a third-set deficit to beat Muchova 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 and collect her third career championship at the French Open and fourth Grand Slam title. “I really love being here,” Swiatek said.

“Basically, it’s my favorite place on tour.” Looking comfortable as can be at the outset, she raced to a 3-0 lead after just 10 minutes in Court Philippe Chatrier — taking 12 of the initial 15 points — and then was ahead 3-0 in the second set, too, before Muchova made things more intriguing. Swiatek seemed out of sorts, unable to find the right strokes and unable to figure out why. Players are allowed to communicate with their coaches, but whatever Tomasz Wiktorowski — or sports psychologist Daria Abramowicz — might have been trying to tell Swiatek, either the message wasn’t getting through or it wasn’t working right away.

“I know much how much teams are important in our sport. Even though it’s an individual sport, I wouldn’t be here without my team,” Swiatek said afterward. “So, really, thank you, guys.