In October 2020, the name of Iga Swiatek is far from the lips of everyone in the world of tennis. Journalists have always asked him how to pronounce his name correctly.
The Polish woman, whose surname is pronounced SCHVI-ON-TEK, was only 18 years old and not the smallest professional crown to be displayed on her tablets in the living room. Almost a few promising feats, such as a final at the WTA 250 tournament in Lugano or even a presence in the round of 16 at Roland-Garros in 2019.
Then, in the fall of 2020, two weeks will be enough to enter the teenager into the world of adults.
Less than two years later, same scene, different roles. We no longer wonder how to pronounce his name, but who can stop him.
Iga Swiatek walks on clay with the same ease that Jesus walked on water. (Source: the Bible). He arrived in Paris crowned with titles won in Rome, Stuttgart, Miami, Indian Wells and Doha. Since the beginning of the year, he has won 37 of his 40 fights.
She has not lost a single match since Feb. 16, a defeat in Dubai against Latvian Jelena Ostapenko. Her 28 consecutive wins, although light years ahead of Martina Navratilova’s record of 74, are one of the most impressive in the past 20 years.
Swiatek got the No. 1 spot in the world when Australia’s Ashleigh Barty surprisingly dropped her crown at the end of March.
Quickly, Swiatek proved that he is not world number one by default.
Beyond successes, there are also ways. Nineteen of its last 20 games have been won in straight sets and often on low scores. On clay, the more his battles progress, the more he becomes unplayable.
In Rome, for example, after pocketing the first set in the quarter-final tiebreaker against Bianca Andreescu, she recorded a 6-0 lead in the second. It then went 6-2 and 6-1 in the semi-finals against Aryna Sabalenka, before Ons Jabeur was eliminated in the final with scores of 6-2 and 6-2. However, the Tunisian was crowned in Madrid last week and was overrated with 11 consecutive victories.
Iga, si Igasaid Jabeur after his defeat.
What does this mean? It means a combination of vitality, fighting in exchange for service, diversity in his shots and ease in his clay moves. All his strength puts him in his own class now. If not, who can win? Ons Jabeur loves clay and he has beaten Swiatek twice in his career, but never on clay.
The Greek may claim that Maria Sakkari, no. 4, the title, even though she only won one WTA tournament, in 2019. She also eliminated Swiatek in the quarter-finals at Roland- Garros in 2021, before being eliminated by eventual champion Barbora Krejcikova in the semi -finals.
Can World No. win the first major title? 3 Paula Badosa? Technically, yes, he can, though his 2022 clay-court season is unlikely to make it to the big screen in Hollywood.
We can also listen to the American contingent. So 2022 is the spring of the Coco Gauff outbreak? Or the confirmation of Jessica Pegula, finalist in Madrid? Or Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, if she can find a bit of consistency for two weeks?
And Paris has never really smiled at Naomi Osaka. Last year, he left the tournament before his second round bout, threatening punishment if he continued his boycott of press briefings.
Emma Raducanu, who went from champion in New York in September to a player in search of confidence and stability in her team? In her last tournaments, she was joined by Iain Bates, the great British women’s tennis official.
He also, according to the BBC, has worked closely on his strategy in recent months with Canadian Louis Cayer, who has been exiled to England for many years.
Success for Raducanu in Paris seems highly uncertain.
Andreescu is encouraging, Fernandez hopes
Bianca Andreescu was the opponent who gave Iga Swiatek the most trouble last week in Rome if we rely too heavily on the number of games allowed. By the way, the Canadian is also one of the few to shake up a bit at the Pole.
Back on the pitch after a break of a few months and after thinking about never coming back, Andreescu seems to be in very good spirits.
After winning a game in Stuttgart, he added two victories in Madrid, then three in Rome. Her three defeats were against solid players in the top 15 in the world: Aryna Sabalenka, Jessica Pegula and Swiatek.
Predicting a victory for Ontario in the French capital would be hard to say the least. In 2021, she lost in the first round to Slovenian Tamara Zidansek, a surprise semi-finalist at last.
In 2019, in his first tournament after a shoulder injury, he missed the first round before having to forfeit the second. In this case, the indicators of physical and mental health are green.
Andreescu, the 72nd player in the world, will start his tournament against a player from the qualifiers.
Leylah Annie Fernandez, who will be the 17th seed, has an appointment with Frenchman Kristina Mladenovic, 110th in the WTA, which she has never faced before.
Since making a magic fortnight in New York in September, the 19-year-old has not been beaten by a player in the world’s top 10.
Of course, the left-hander won in March in Monterrey, on the hard court, but there hasn’t been a unique season on clay.
The Roland-Garros champion in the juniors, in 2019, shows a record of two wins against three losses this season on clay.
If his fighting spirit and his aggressiveness are never (or rarely) lacking, when he waits for his rivals to be firmly planted in his baseline, the surprise impact he enjoyed in New York seems to be gone.
Therefore, he has to move forward one by one, pick and shovel, which he always does on a tennis court.
And make those who doubt him lie. Which he has also done well over the past 12 months.
Source: Radio-Canada
