Photo credit: Mutua Madrid Open Facebook
In her rise to Roland Garros queen, Iga Swiatek deploys balance dangerously.
Booming the ball of both wings, Swiatek shows she’s an equal opportunity obliterator.
Last summer, a scary Swiatek shredded Coco Gauff 6-2, 6-4 storming into her fourth Roland Garros final. In the title match, Swiatek rocked maiden major finalist Jasmine Paolini rolling to a Roland Garros championship three-peat with a stylish 6-2, 6-1 thrashing.
The powerful Pole captured her fourth French Open title in a five year span last June. Swiatek has not contested a final since that day in Paris and went on to suffer one of the most painful defeats of her career at Roland Garros.
Zheng Qinwen stopped Swiatek 6-2, 7-5 at the Paris Olympic snapping Swiatek’s 25-match win streak and Roland Garros and shattering the gold-medal dream of the daughter of a Polish Olympian.
You can argue Swiatek has never really been the same since that August day in Paris that saw her drop seven of the last eight games in a stunning upset.
Reigning champion Swiatek launches her defense playing for history in Paris: she aims to become the first woman to win four consecutive French Open championships in the Open Era.
Yet a stressed Swiatek is also plagued by major challenges: easing the ennui that’s enveloped her, regaining her clarity and confidence on court and trying to defend her title from the unfamiliar ranking position of No. 5 which could pose potential quarterfinal threats, including 2017 Roland Garros champion Jelena Ostapenko, who is 6-0 lifetime against Swiatek.
Former world No. 1 Jim Courier says Swiatek must build this Roland Garros return from the ground up—and points to the fact she’s been practicing in Paris for several days as a sign she’s likely to find her footing and her mojo.
“She’s been practicing on site since late last week. If she’s still in Paris that’s a good long run for her to conjure up the feelings that have always been so good to her,” Courier told the media on TNT’s Zoom call to promote its Roland Garros coverage. “If I were to say one thing that has also stood out this spring was talking about how her footwork felt foreign to her, it didn’t feel right.
“That’s something that should be very natural for her and if you have to think about your footwork, that is just a huge wrench in the whole works.”
The champion is an intriguing character in this 2025 French Open saga: Swiatek is simultaneously the most formidable clay champion in the field yet arrives in Paris in the most fragile state of her Roland Garros career.
Opponents who have been Swiatek on dirt this season—including Ostapenko in Stuttgart, Gauff in Madrid and Danielle Collins in Rome—have often ripped returns right back through the center of the court challenging Swiatek’s forehand which is a fierce weapon but also requires time for her to generate the backswing. Rattling spinny shortballs from that wing helped those three women go on the attack. The backhand down the line to the Swiatek forehand is another weapon Collins, Gauff and Ostapenko each employed successfully in their clay-court conquests of the former No. 1.
Stats show Swiatek has not been as strong under pressure this season. Last year, Swiatek saved 66.1% of all break points she faced and this year she's saved 52.8% of break points faced.
Getting back to basics, focusing on footwork, shot preparation and playing to her strengths on dirt are essential elements for Swiatek, says Hall of Famer Courier.
“Simplicity. When you are in a space like she’s in, she’s so good she’ll be able to beat the first week’s opponents even if she plays even a little below average,” Courier said. “So working her way into the tournament and trying to find her footwork literally and figuratively, is the way to go.
“Keep it simple. Her game’s good enough, she won’t have to worry too much until the quarter-finals or so.”
Former world No. 1 champions Caroline Wozniacki and Courier conducted a Zoom call with the media to promote TNT’s Roland Garros coverage on Tuesday.
It all starts Sunday, May 25, at 5 a.m. ET on TNT, truTV and Max. TNT Sports will deliver nearly 300 hours of programming across TNT and truTV — all originating live from Paris — along with unprecedented streaming coverage on Max and extensive original content available via Bleacher Report and House of Highlights.
The City of Light has been an energizing environment for Swiatek, who carries a staggering 35-2 career Roland Garros record into this title defense.
Can a return to the familiar crushed red brick helped Swiatek rebuild her confidence—and reach her first final since she swept Jasmine Paolini in the 2024 Roland Garros final?
TNT analyst Caroline Wozniacki says if Swiatek can stabilize between the ears, she can be successful between the lines in Paris.
“I think, for me, Iga’s [problems are] all mental,” Wozniacki told the media. “I feel like she has seemed a little more stressed lately and not being able to play as freely and when she doesn’t play as freely she doesn’t hit through the court as much and the ball lands a little bit shorter and you’re able to attack a little bit more on her.
“For Iga it’s all about mentally. If she can stay loose, if she can stay relaxed, if she can stay happy, her game comes together.”
So far, Swiatek’’s season has been about learning to live with loss.
It’s been a tumultuous time in Swiatek’s personal life with the recent passing of her grandfather. Swiatek attended her grandfather’s funeral before the Mutua Madrid Open.
Though Swiatek has been a gladiator on court throughout her career, she’s a sensitive human being too. Shaking off the pain of personal loss and switching on professional passion on court is not as easy as turning on a lightswitch.
Swiatek, who was hounded by an aggressive stalker at the Miami Open who taunted her with personal insults in practice, has faced her share of off-court trauma.
The question is: Will Swiatek’s Roland Garros return be revitalizing or disconcerting given it will be her first appearance in Paris since falling short of her Olympic gold-medal dreams last summer.
Two-time Roland Garros champion Courier says the fact Swiatek has been practicing in Paris for days now figures to help her find her feet and focus for this French Open.
“Another thing that we should be mindful of from the outside is that we don’t know everything that’s happening,” Courier told the media in TNT’s Zoom call on Tuesday. “We learned in hindsight that one of her grandparents had passed away recently. So you don’t know how much that is damaging her ability to focus, for lack of a better word.”
Wozniacki, whose father was her coach for much of her career, wonders if the transition Swiatek has made working with veteran coach Wim Fissette after parting with Tomasz Wiktorowski last October, is part of her challenge.
“The question is I don’t know what her team setup, if that’s the right one or now,” Wozniacki said.”But you could see in Wiktorowski, whether or not they were like ‘We’ve reached the end because you can’t push me anymore,’ or whatever it was, he was able to get through to her and I thought that was very impressive to see.
“They obviously had a great partnership.”
Hall of Famer Pete Sampras suffered a two-year title drought before capturing the 2002 US Open championship in the final tournament of his career.
Recalling that title run in his book A Champion’s Mind, Sampras shared the simple advice coach Paul Annacone supplied: “Remember, you’re Pete Sampras, they’re not. You've done it before and can do it again.”
Similarly, Wozniacki said Swiatek must impose her identity and fear factor to rule Roland Garros again.
“Mentality. How is she going to go into Roland-Garros?” Wozniacki said. “Is she going to feel a ton of pressure and feel tight because she’s won there so many times, or is she going to go in there and say You know what I’ve won her so many times I can relax and enjoy, because this is my surface and everyone else should be afraid of me.
“That’s the attitude – from the outside – that she should go in with, but it’s easier said than done. It’s much easier from the outside.”