Iga Swiatek is 7 match wins away from becoming the only second player in the WTA tour history to clinch the Madrid-Rome-Roland Garros treble and Martina Navratilova has compared the Pole to fellow legend Chris Evert.
Ahead of her French Open title defense, Swiatek is riding on the back of back-back to victories at Madrid and Italian Open, getting better of WTA #2 Aryna Sabalenka in both finals. The 22-year-old has become only the third player after Dinara Safina (2009) and Serena Williams (2013) to seal back to back WTA 1000 events in the Spanish and Italian capitals since the formats were introduced in 2009.
Williams went on to complete the hat-trick of clay tourneys by winning the French Open and now Swiatek will look to follow the in the footsteps of 23-time singles major titlist.
Steffi Graf (1987) and Monica Seles (1990) also completed the triple trophy feat when the now-defunct German Open was on the tennis calendar as a Tier 1 event.
Swiatek took her WTA title haul to 21 with the latest triumph in Eternal City and 10 of her trophies have come on the clay, her dominant surface. The Pole is putting up Evert-like numbers and performances on the surface.
Evert is considered the greatest women’s clay courter of all time as she sealed 70 titles on the terre battue with seven of them coming in the French capital. Her great rival Navratilova who has seen the level displayed by the American has drew comparisons between the fellow star and Swiatek.
“She’s been Chris Evert-like. That topspin drives you nuts, and I think she moves as good as anybody,” she told the official WTA website. “Clay, she’s got that down to perfection, the sliding and the movement and recovery.
“Just wears you out from the baseline, playing aggressive. She’s got the consistency and the major wins. That’s why she’s been No 1 for so long. Paris is the perfect venue for her game.”
The 4-time Grand Slam champion is 28–2 at Roland Garros since making her first appearance in 2019. Swiatek is looking to win a fourth title in Paris and although her confidence is high, she wants to keep things low.
“Obviously I am confident. I feel like I’m playing great tennis. But it doesn’t change the fact that I really want to stay humble and really focused on getting everything step by step. Grand Slams are different. There is different pressure on the court and off the court,” she assessed.
“For sure, I love to come to Paris again and be there. It’s a great place for me to be. I really enjoy my time there anyway.
“These are hard seven matches that you need to win, so I don’t take anything for granted. I’ll just work hard as I did in Madrid and Rome and we’ll see.”