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Iga Swiatek is suffering a significant slump in form. She has recently faced early-round exits from multiple tournaments. In the ongoing Italian Open, she was eliminated in the Round of 32 by Danielle Collins in straight sets. Even at the Madrid Open, she was completely blown away by Coco Gauff in the semifinals, as she lost 1-6, 1-6 to the American.
Considering her recent form on the red dirt, American Legend Chris Evert has doubted the Pole’s capability to defend her title at the French Open. Swiatek is considered the best player on clay in recent times. Out of her 22 career titles, 10 have come on clay. This includes four French Open titles, three WTA 1000 in Rome, two WTA 500 in Stuttgart and one WTA 1000 in Madrid. Additionally, the former World No. 1 has an 89 percent win percentage on clay despite her recent losses in the current season.
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The 18-time Grand Slam champion commented on Iga Swiatek’s current form to Forbes in a phone interview.
“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,” Evert said.
Chris Evert is considered the greatest female tennis player to play on clay. She has won 70 tour titles on the surface with seven French Open titles. She has a staggering win percentage of 94.55 percent on the surface, which is the highest by any player in tennis history.
“She’s just hungry”: Christ Evert once praised Iga Swiatek
After Iga Swiatek won her third French Open title in 2023, Chris Evert praised the Pole for her hunger to win more and more Grand Slams. She compared Swiatek with the legends of the game like herself, Steffi Graf, Monica Seles and Martina Navratilova.
"She’s just hungry. There are champions that win one Slam, and that’s enough, but there are players that are really hungry - Monica Seles, Steffi Graf, myself and Martina Navratilova, and I think Iga is the same type of person," Evert told Eurosport.
Swiatek has a win/loss record of 35/2 at the French Open, which shows her dominance in that tournament. In contrast, her win/loss record at this year’s clay season till now is 6/3. She has also slipped from World No. 2 to No. 4 due to her current losses. Despite the slump in her current form, she will be one of the favourites to defend her title at Roland Garros.
