Swiatek To Face Possibility Of Brutal Roland Garros Draw Due To Paolini Heroics

Iga Swiatek will need to work hard if she wants to defend her trophy at his year's Roland Garros, especially after the latest development.

Swiatek started this clay-court season with a challenging task. The Polish player was the defending champion in Madrid, Rome, and she will be the defending champion also at the French Open.

The 23-year-old couldn't defend her titles in Madrid and Rome, and since those two triumphs corresponded to 2,000 of her ranking points, the Polish player experienced a fall down the WTA Rankings.

In practice, there are some specific implications when it comes to the draws. Being a second seed means that Swiatek, or any other player, avoids the top seed until the final. Being a third or fourth seed means taking on one of the top two seeds already in the semi-finals. But after the Italian Open, Swiatek is in an even more challenging position.

Jasmine Paolini enjoyed a successful 2024 season, reaching the Roland Garros and Wimbledon finals. This year, the Italian player was able to follow up on those results, with her latest triumph coming in Rome.

Paolini beat Coco Gauff in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament in Rome, and thanks to that, she improved to her career-high fourth place in the WTA Rankings. By doing so, the Italian overtook Swiatek, who is now fifth with 5,838 points, only 27 points behind Paolini.

But those 27 points might be crucial for Swiatek. Being the fifth seed at Roland Garros (unless one of the four players ahead of her withdraws from the tournament) means that she has a chance of taking on the top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka already in the quarter-finals.

The Belarusian has been in great form this year, and avoiding her for as long as possible would have been ideal for Swiatek, who, on the other hand, has failed to match her results from previous years in 2025.

On top of that, failing at Roland Garros could see Swiatek drop even further down the WTA Rankings, further complicating her life at future events. If the four-time champion doesn't defend her title, she will most probably drop to the World No. 8 position, and likely even further.

Due to her run of bad results, Swiatek found herself in a very challenging position, and the only way to get out of it is by finding her top level again. On the other hand, by winning the title in Rome, Paolini secured a fourth seeding spot at Roland Garros, but she was most happy about winning a title in front of her home crowd.