Mats Wilander believes Iga Swiatek will win at least 7 or 8 Roland Garros titles during her career if she stays fit.
The Swede also backed the Pole as a big favorite to win the Paris slam this year as Nadal has been throughout his tennis career. Swiatek is attempting to win a 4th French Open crown and fifth title overall at Slams this year.
The 22-year-old is a top favorite to add another title to her Paris resume as she sealed victories at the prestigious tourney in 2020, 2022 and 2023.
Swiatek arrives in Paris in superb form as she is on a 12-match win streak after recording back-to-back WTA 1000 triumphs in Madrid and Rome. The WTA No. 1 defeated 2-time Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka in the championship matches at both events.
The former World No. 1, Wilander finds it difficult to see Swiatek losing on her red dirt.
“I think that with Iga Swiatek, I am more impressed the more I see her play,” the 7-time Grand Slam champion told Eurosport.
“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 I think that the confidence that she’s growing, winning all these clay court tournaments and taking one, two, three steps away from Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina and all the other women that are behind, I think that’s going to really help her on other surfaces.
“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.”
The 3-time Roland Garros champion predicted Swiatek to extend her wins on Parisian clay: “I think Iga is as big a favorite this year as Rafa has been over all these years.
“He’s been the favorite and he’s won 14. Iga I think is going to win at least seven or eight Roland Garros if she stays healthy.”