"If I was Karolina Muchova, I would watch matches Iga Swiatek played against Ashleigh Barty" - Barbara Schett

Former World No. 7 Barbara Schett has urged Karolina Muchova to take a leaf out of Ashleigh Barty's playbook if she is to defeat Iga Swiatek in the French Open final.

Muchova and Swiatek will lock horns in the 2023 Roland Garros final on Saturday. While the former will be competing in her maiden Grand Slam final, Swiatek will be playing her third final in Paris and the fourth at a Major.

Swiatek, understandably, will start the match as the odds-on favorite. Former Austrian player Schett, however, believes that Muchova should look to Barty on how to tackle the Polish star.

Swiatek and Barty faced each other twice on the tour before the latter retired from the sport. In both meetings, the Australian had the upper hand and won in straight sets. They first met in the Round of 16 in Madrid in 2021, where Barty won 7-5, 6-4. Then, in the Adelaide 500 semifinal last year, she defeated Swiatek 6-2, 6-4.

Schett, who now works as a tennis analyst, suggested that Muchova should study the highlights reels of Swiatek and Barty matches before the title clash.

"If I was Muchova, I would watch the matches Iga played against Barty because she had heaps of problems against her, and how did she play? Using the slice, a big forehand, and a big serve," she told Eurosport.

Former Swedish World No. 1 Mats Wilander, meanwhile, believes that if Swiatek is thrown off her rhythm, she can be vulnerable. He also stated that the Pole isn't as invincible now as she looked last year when she was in the midst of a 37-match winning streak.

"There is a chance for Muchova. You have to throw Iga off her rhythm. I don’t know if she can do it with power like Elena Rybakina can, but she can do it with other shot selections. We’ve seen her lose to certain players, and when you see players like her lose, other players start to think they can beat her too," he opined.

"That’s a different story to last year, where there was no chance of beating Iga. This year, there’s a big difference," he added.

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"She can get stressed out when she’s not winning points" - Alex Corretja on Iga Swiatek vs Karolina Muchova French Open final

Iga Swiatek in action at the 2023 French Open.

Two-time French Open runner-up Alex Corretja, who also works as an analyst alongside Barbara Schett and Mats Wilander, believes that Karolina Muchova needs to make sure Iga Swiatek is 'uncomfortable'.

Corretja opined that Swaitek gets stressed out when the game isn't progressing the way she hoped.

"You need to do something where Iga is uncomfortable. If she’s comfortable, she’s on autopilot, and there’s no chance of beating her. From what I saw of her against Beatriz Haddad Maia, she can be desperate at times, when the balls aren’t as fast as she’d like, and she can’t do as much as she’d like. She looks like she can get stressed out when she’s not winning points," he said.

Corretja called for Muchova to attack Swiatek's second serve and avoid attacking her backhand.

"Muchova can go from forehand to forehand, into Iga’s forehand, and from backhand to backhand she might need to play solidly. She could use open angles to see if Iga struggles," he said.

"I would definitely attack Iga’s second serve, stepping in, moving and looking to push her as much as possible to make her uncomfortable. Or go to the body and start on the forehand side. Try to avoid the backhand from the beginning of the point," he added.

Muchova is known to raise her game when facing higher-rankled opponents. She has faced a player ranked in the top three five times in her career and emerged victorious in all of the clashes.