Wilander backs Swiatek to win 'seven or eight' French Opens, draws similarities to Nadal

Eurosport tennis expert Mats Wilander believes Iga Swiatek is the clear favourite to win another French Open crown this year.

The Pole heads to Roland-Garros as the defending champion, after lifting her third title in Paris last year.

“I think that with Iga Swiatek, I am more impressed the more I see her play,” he said.

“Some days, some matches, you can see that she has certain limitations, but it has to be conditions that are terrible for her, and there are very few tournaments that are completely terrible for her. There are very, very few players that are terrible for her.

“So I think that the confidence that she’s growing, winning all these clay court tournaments and taking one, two, three steps away from Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina and all the other women that are behind, I think that’s going to really help her on other surfaces.

“So to beat Iga on clay, because it’s a women’s tournament and it’s two out of three sets, yes, she could run into Aryna Sabalenka, who will have an unbelievable one hour of tennis and suddenly Iga is down a set and maybe a break 4/2 and now you’re 10 minutes away from losing, even though you’re not playing bad.

“But there is a very, very, very small chance that that’s going to happen.”

Swiatek has already earned the nickname ‘Queen of Clay’ for her exploits in her burgeoning career.

Indeed, of her 87 matches on the surface, 77 have ended in victory – including three Grand Slam finals in Paris.

Her wins in Rome and Madrid this spring have been equally impressive, beating Sabalenka to lift the trophy on each occasion.

With four major wins to her name, Wilander thinks the Pole will continue to dominate in Roland-Garros for years to come – much like Rafael Nadal has done in winning the men’s event on 14 occasions.

“I think Iga is as big a favourite this year as Rafa has been over all these years,” he continued. “He’s been the favourite and he’s won 14.

“Iga I think is going to win at least seven or eight Roland-Garros if she stays healthy.”