Former player Martina Navratilova still has Iga Swiatek ahead of the rest of the field at Roland Garros, even with shaky play this year.
There is very little doubt in the tennis community that Iga Swiatek is among the best players in the world. Her level this year has been spectacular at times but the key point is 'at times'. Overall she's been challenged more than last year and beaten as well.
Both Rybakina and Sabalenka have outplayed and beaten her this year. Even if she's not worried about it, Swiatek could lose her number one ranking after Roland Garros. Her consistency hasn't been what it used to be last year and her points total dropped quite a bit since the start of the year. Throw in some injury concerns before the event and you have a very shaky claim to the favourite mantle.
It all hinges on her health. From what I’m hearing, the [thigh] injury is not that bad. If she’s 100 percent healthy, then she’s the odds-on favourite. It’s Iga versus the field. If she’s not, then it’s wide open.
There is a lot of unknown ahead of it but Navratilova is right. If Swiatek is fully healthy that she's the favourite for the event, simply due to being a 2x champion of it who has proven that she's grand slam-winning material. Many others like Henman also consider Swiatek the favourite even with the uncertainty right now.
And Sabalenka and Rybakina, they would be the favourites to win. No doubt about it, the way they’ve played on the clay. All those players should be pretty confident coming in, with Swiatek having the most if her body is 100 percent. I mean, we could have a surprising winner, but chances are it will be one of the three.
The draw could be another factor and we'll find out how it looks later today. It should happen at around 14:00 CET so stay tuned for that.
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