French Open 2022 Women's Final: Iga Swiatek vs. Coco Gauff Predictions

The No. 1 player in women's tennis and the next rising star of the American game face off on Saturday for the 2022 French Open women's singles championship.

Iga Swiatek backed up her world ranking and top seed by plowing through the Roland Garros field to reach the final.

The 2020 French Open champion comes into Saturday's final against Coco Gauff on a 34-match winning streak. She is one win away from tying Venus Williams' 35-match winning streak from 2000 that's the longest this century.

Gauff blazed a similar path through the bottom half of the bracket, as she did not lose a set on the way to her first Grand Slam final. She has been a fixture on the second weekend of majors for the last few years, but she was not able to break through to a final until Thursday.

The 18-year-old will try to become the first American woman since Serena Williams to win the French Open since 2015 and just the second American woman to win a major since 2017.

Swiatek will be the favored player Saturday because of her world ranking, experience and winning streak, but she will receive a challenge from Gauff in what will be one of the most anticipated women's Grand Slam finals in years.

French Open Women's Final Prediction

Iga Swiatek over Coco Gauff in 3 Sets

The present and future of women's tennis will be on display in Paris on Saturday.

Swiatek has been on top of the world rankings since Ash Barty's unexpected retirement, and she has set a gold standard for the entire WTA Tour. Her victory Thursday over Daria Kasatkina put her in a second French Open final in three years.

In 2020, Swiatek won at Roland Garros as an unknown player at the top of the sport. The Poland native won every set in that tournament and beat an American, Sofia Kenin, in the championship match. She could follow nearly the same script on her way to another French crown. The No. 1 seed lost one set on her way to the final in the fourth round against Qinwen Zhang.

Swiatek has two victories over Gauff in two career meetings, one took place in Miami this year and the other occurred in 2021 on clay in Rome.

Gauff has not taken a set off Swiatek in those two matches, though she did force a first-set tiebreak in Rome. Saturday provides her with the best chance to win against the No. 1 player in the world because of her form in Paris.

The Georgia native did not lose a set in her first six matches. She only beat one seeded player in a wide-open bottom part of the bracket, but she took down a few experienced players on the way to the final.

Gauff defeated Sloane Stephens, Kaia Kanepi and No. 31 seed Elise Mertens to reach the semifinal round, where she downed Martina Trevisan in straight sets.

Swiatek did not lose a set in Miami and dropped a single set in Stuttgart, Germany, in those tournament victories. She also won her final three matches in Indian Wells, California, in straight sets to earn the title on the American hard court.

All three of Swiatek's losses this season came at the start of the year. She fell to Barty in an Australian Open prep tournament, to Danielle Collins in the Australian Open semifinals and to Jelena Ostapenko in Dubai in February.

Gauff could take a set off Swiatek, but it will be difficult for the 18-year-old to manage the pressure of playing in her first Grand Slam final and against the top player in the world.