Iga Swiatek has won five Grand Slam titles in her career, and guess what? Four out of them have been on the Parisian clay! Seeing her incredible dominance at Roland Garros, the seven-time champion, Chris Evert once said, “I’m worried about it every day. When I put my head under the pillow, I’m worried about Iga. I think Iga will end up in double digits. I don’t just think she will beat my record here. I think it’s double digits.” Even in 2023, when Swiatek won this title, Evert praised her for her hunger to win more Grand Slams. In fact, she had even drawn a comparison of her with the legends of the game, including herself, Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, and Martina Navratilova. However, despite all this praise, Evert took a different stance when it came it naming a favorite for the 2025 French Open. Swiatek’s poor form became the talk of the town before this tournament, but now it seems she’s back in form in her familiar territory. Breaking records at will!
Previously, while predicting Iga Swiatek’s future at the 2025 French Open, Evert said, “I just don’t know how Iga is going to react. That, to me, is the unknown. We know what she is capable of, and with her past records, she’s brilliant at the French Open, but I just don’t know if she can find her A game, because she’s going to need it. It’s kind of like we’re seeing her C game right now.” Iga Swiatek is yet to win a title since the 2024 French Open. And on top of that, she faced an early exit from the Italian Open this year at the hands of America’s Danielle Collins.
Highlighting more of these in another interview, Chris Evert said that she thinks Iga Swiatek is “losing confidence” because she hasn’t won a tournament in a year. Other than that, the tennis legend also claimed that she believes that the doping case has “really affected her personally because she’s very aware of what people think about her. How can she rediscover her best form? “I think she just has to really get it back the first couple matches that she plays at the French Open,” said Evert.
Talking about getting back to winning ways at the French Open, after becoming the only player to reach the third round in all 21 singles Grand Slam events played since 2020, Iga Swiatek (38-2) has now become the player with the most number of women’s singles main draw wins at the Roland Garros in the Open Era after their 40 matches, equalling Chris Evert’s astonishing record. If we take a look at that list, Monica Seles sits at the third spot with 37 wins, followed by Justine Henin at 36, and then comes Steffi Graf and Martina Navratilova with 35 wins each.
38 – Iga Swiatek (38-2) has become the player with the most Women’s Singles main draw wins at the French Open in the Open Era after their first 40 matches, equalling Chris Evert. Astonishing.#RolandGarros | @rolandgarros @WTA pic.twitter.com/CvJVcKb2jT
— OptaAce (@OptaAce) May 30, 2025
Iga Swiatek accomplished this feat after her stunning 6-2,7-5 victory against Romania’s Jaqueline Cristian in the third round. With this win, she has now also taken her winning streak to 24 matches at the Roland Garros. What did she say after this match, though?
Iga Swiatek says she’s “happy” with her performance against Jaqueline Cristian
Just before the start of this tournament, the Pole was asked to share her thoughts about her chances at the 2025 Roland Garros. In reply to that question, Iga Swiatek had then said, “Obviously, it would be stupid to expect much from Roland Garros because I am not in a position to play my game at this moment.” Her lack of confidence truly was reflected through those words. However, despite all these, her peers never intended to rule her out when it came to the Roland Garros. Now, seeing her performance on the Parisian clay, the experts have yet again started to put her in the driving seat in Paris.
For example, American tennis legend John McEnroe was spotted hailing Iga Swiatek as the “greatest clay-court player” in the women’s game. And, having said that, he also mentioned, “That doesn’t mean she’s gonna win this again, but she was almost unbeatable on this surface. So I’m surprised that she hasn’t won any tournaments since the French [in 2024], especially on clay. So something’s not right there. That doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t still call her — if I had to say who’s the favorite, I’d still pick her.“
Swiatek battled for almost 1 hour and 54 minutes on the hottest day of the tournament so far to beat the Romanian in straight sets. She’s yet to drop a set in this tournament. Following her victory against Emma Raducanu, she said, “I knew what I wanted to do, so I just did it.” What did she say this time after securing her spot in the fourth round?
“I’m just happy that I was super solid in the last game and didn’t give any free points … she used her chances and went for it every time I gave her a chance. It was a great match and I think pretty entertaining. We both played nice; I’m happy I’m through and happy with the performance,” said the former world number one. She will face either Elena Rybakina or the 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko in her next match. Do you think she can overcome the hurdle with a similar dominating scoreline?
The post French Open: Leaving Legends Steffi Graf and Navratilova Behind, Iga Swiatek Ties Chris Evert in a Unique Feat appeared first on EssentiallySports.