In 2019, Iga Swiatek enjoyed a breakthrough clay-court season. After finishing runner-up to Polona Hercog in Lugano, the Pole made the fourth round at Roland Garros, having arrived in Paris with just one win in the main draw at a Grand Slam to her name. A year later, despite returning to the French capital in a rather poor form, Swiatek has stormed into the third round and looks to be playing with renewed confidence. But will she better her 2019 result?
Impressing in Paris since 2018
This is actually the third year in a row that Swiatek has shone at Roland Garros. In 2018, when she was still playing as a junior, she came to Paris regarded as one of the brightest young prospects in the women’s game and she put together a fine run. She ended up falling just short in the semifinals, losing to Caty McNally, who in turn lost the championship match to Cori Gauff. But that wasn’t all that Swiatek achieved in Paris that summer, as she also won the doubles title playing with McNally.
As a result, much was expected of her when she returned to the French Open a year later. After opening her campaign with a comprehensive 6-3 6-0 win over French wildcard Selena Janicijevic, she faced sixteenth seed Wang Qiang in the second round. Many thought that Swiatek would provide the Chinese with a real test, with an upset being far from unthinkable, but few could have expected Swiatek to win in the manner that she did.
Swiatek swept Wang aside in just 54 minutes, blasting 33 winners past the 16th seed in a 6-3 6-0 win. The Pole backed that up by coming through a hard-fought three-set battle with Monica Puig, which set up a fourth-round clash with Simona Halep, the defending champion and the pre-tournament favorite. Unfortunately for Swiatek, it proved to be a challenge too far. Halep cruised to a 6-1 6-0 win in only 45 minutes, with the 18-year-old failing to hold serve even once.
A difficult restart
After the coronavirus pandemic brought the season to a halt, Swiatek elected to play exhibitions in Switzerland and the Czech Republic over the summer, playing some great tennis along the way and beating, amongst others, Karolina Pliskova, Marketa Vondrousova, and Jil Teichmann. But Swiatek proved unable to carry that good form into the restart, losing her opening match in Cincinnati to Christina McHale without putting up much of a fight.
Things improved a little at the US Open where she reached the third round, offering eventual finalist Victoria Azarenka some determined, if sporadic resistance, in a 4-6 2-6 loss there. But that was rather a false dawn for the Pole, who lost 6-7 3-6 to Arantxa Rus in the first round at the Italian Open, having thrown away a first-set lead. Thus, expectations were low coming into the French Open and they were lowered further still when she drew 2019 finalist Vondrousova in the first round.
Good vibrations
But although Vondrousova arrived at Roland Garros in good form, having reached the semifinals in Rome, she was dispatched swiftly by Swiatek. The 19-year-old was unplayable for the majority of the match, combining some huge shots up the line with deft touch to keep her opponent off-balance and out of position. The result was a memorable win for Swiatek, who said after the match: “I always felt great here (in Paris), I feel good vibrations”.
On Wednesday, Swiatek took on Su-Wei Hsieh. The Taiwanese can be an extremely difficult opponent to face, with her unorthodox technique and shot selection often catching players off guard. But she proved to be no match for Swiatek, who delivered another inspired performance to win 6-1 6-4. There was only one small blemish, as she lost concentration at the start of the second set to find herself down 1-4. But she rallied back in superb fashion, losing only five more points.
Next up for the 19-year-old is former-world #5 Eugenie Bouchard, who is in the midst of an impressive revival. But it is nonetheless a winnable match for Swiatek and, should she get the better of the Canadian, the most likely opponent to be waiting for her in the last 16 is none other than Halep. The Romanian is once again the heavy favorite for the title, having won her last 16 matches and lifted the title at the Prague Open and in Rome.
But Halep, for all her quality, is not invulnerable. If she meets an opponent redlining their game, going for and making winners, she could prove susceptible, particularly with the slow, heavy conditions in Paris appearing to favor the bigger hitters. And that is exactly the sort of performance that Swiatek has demonstrated she is capable of so far at Roland Garros. Having worked hard on her game in the last 12 months, she looks now to be on the cusp of reaping the rewards.
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