Iga Swiatek has been the woman to beat in each of the last two editions of Roland Garros, and according to Mats Wilander, her dominance at the tournament won't end anytime soon.
Swiatek is the overwhelming favorite to win this year's clay-court Grand Slam, having been in near-perfect form coming to Paris. Although she surrendered her undefeated streak in Stuttgart when she lost to Elena Rybakina, she won each of the next two WTA 1000s on clay.
The Pole saved three match points to beat close rival Aryna Sabalenka in an epic Madrid final at the start of May. She would obliterate the Belarusian powerhouse for a second consecutive final at the Italian Open to win her fourth title of 2024, the most by a WTA player this season.
In a recent interview with Eurosport, seven-time Grand Slam champion Wilander believes Swiatek rarely has a "terrible" matchup and that it will take an exceptional performance from a streaky player to beat her, although the chances are "very small."
"I think that with Iga Swiatek, I am more impressed the more I see her play. Some days, some matches, you can see that she has certain limitations, but it has to be conditions that are terrible for her, and there are very few tournaments that are completely terrible for her. There are very, very few players that are terrible for her."
"So to beat Iga on clay, because it’s a women’s tournament and it’s two out of three sets, yes, she could run into Aryna Sabalenka, who will have an unbelievable one hour of tennis and suddenly Iga is down a set and maybe a break 4-2 and now you’re 10 minutes away from losing, even though you’re not playing bad. But there is a very, very, very small chance that that’s going to happen.”
Swiatek kicked off her 2024 French Open with a routine first-round win over French qualifier Leolia Jeanjean, dropping just three games in an hour.
The 22-year-old has been tipped to break the women's Roland Garros record of the most titles by Chris Evert, who holds the record. Wilander has also suggested that the World No. 1 is capable of winning at least eight French Opens, which would trump Evert's record haul of seven.
"I think Iga is as big a favourite this year as Rafa has been over all these years. He’s been the favourite and he’s won 14. Iga I think is going to win at least seven or eight Roland Garros if she stays healthy."
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