Boris Becker followed Roland Garros closely for the German Eurosport channel and he was impressed by what Iga Swiatek did.
In an exclusive talk with Eurosport Becker talked about what he saw from Iga Swiatek who lifted her 4th grand slam trophy in Paris recently. It was a complicated event for Swiatek who entered it with injury concerns but ultimately she managed to emerge victorious. It was tough, the toughest one of her 3 but that proved a real champion mindset.
Even when she's not playing and her best and possibly isn't fully physically fit, she was able to overcome a very inspired opponent who was playing some of the best tennis she ever played. There are very few players that take their tennis career as seriously as Swiatek does as she continues to build her legacy. She aims for much more and former player Becker has no reason to doubt her.
She is only 22 years old, and she still has her whole athletic life ahead of her. So I see no reason why she can't win ten or 15 Grand Slam titles if she stays motivated. That's always the big question, especially when you have success at such a young age. But from the way she plays, her attitude, her fitness, I don't see any reason why she shouldn't reach double-digit Grand Slam wins.
That's a pretty similar opinion to what John McEnroe had last year. The American though predicted Swiatek to hover somewhere around 10 grand slams when all things are done but she could also eclipse that. The Polish player already has four and while a few players have shown her to be beatable, she's still one of the best players in the world and it's not even close.
One thing that Becker feels could be crucial in keeping her motivated is the competition. She will need other players to keep with her as well as they did this year to motivate her further. She recently said that she doesn't care about other players but that's a bit hard to believe. She might not be invested in their career but any competitor cares about the competition. Becker thinks that a strong one pushes you to new heights.
The question is the rivalry; the women need it as much as the men. For Djokovic, [Rafael] Nadal and [Roger] Federer were important, and for Swiatek, it will be important that [Aryna] Sabalenka continues to improve, that Muchova continues to play well, Ons Jabeur, I also want to mention here, Coco Gauff, I would also like to see in the final again.
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