Contenders lining up, eyeing Swiatek’s French Open crown
AFP, Paris :
The French Open women’s tournament gets under way this weekend without a clear favourite for the first time in several years, with a clutch of players in strong form and Iga Swiatek enduring an unprecedented slump.
Jasmine Paolini became the eighth different player to reach a WTA 1000 final this season at last week’s Italian Open before defeating Coco Gauff to clinch the biggest title of her career.
Aryna Sabalenka has solidified her position as world number one while Swiatek, winner of four Roland Garros titles in the last five years, has failed to reach any tour-level final since lifting her third successive French Open almost 12 months ago.
Sabalenka briefly dropped off from her best form after a surprise Australian Open final loss to Madison Keys before bouncing back with the Miami and Madrid Open titles.
“I got really hungry and angry — angry in a good way and I think at the end, the Australian Open final pushed me to work even harder,” she told the WTA.
“(It) kind of explained to me that you have to really work hard in finals and you have to earn your victories. It was a good push for me.”
But the Belarusian has also shown signs of fragility and was well beaten by Zheng Qinwen in the Rome quarter-finals. The three-time Grand Slam champion has never reached the Roland Garros final and could face Swiatek in the last eight.
She exited the French Open at that stage last year when she gave up a one-set lead en route to defeat by Mirra Andreeva.
Gauff’s first final appearances in Madrid and Rome have helped her return to a career-high ranking of world number two, giving her the second seeding for Paris. The 21-year-old, a former Roland Garros runner-up, is waiting for her first title since last year’s WTA Finals.
“Hopefully I can get to the final in Roland Garros and maybe the ‘Third time lucky’ thing is a real thing,” Gauff said after missing out in Rome to Paolini. Jessica Pegula has also matched her career-best ranking of third, but has only got past the third round of the French Open once.
Last year’s losing finalist Paolini, the fourth seed, will be full of confidence after sealing the biggest trophy of her career in front of her home fans at the Italian Open.
Several younger players have made their mark on the WTA Tour this season, led by Russian teenager Andreeva. She became the youngest-ever champion of a WTA 1000 title in Dubai in February, before backing it up with an even more impressive triumph at Indian Wells.