Is Iga Swiatek the Roland Garros favourite?
After a difficult start to her 2026 campaign, the Polish star has finally captured some semblance of good form.
Under the guidance of coach Francisco Roig, Swiatek has played her best tennis of the season at the Italian Open, defeating Naomi Osaka and Jessica Pegula on her way to the semi-finals.
Swiatek’s performances – rather than the results themselves – have particularly stood out.
Is Iga Swiatek now the favourite to win Roland Garros?
What a performance!
The 24-year-old appears to have regained her ability to defeat opponents with little fuss, as demonstrated by her scintillating play against Osaka and Pegula.
Kim Clijsters, a multiple Grand Slam champion, has noticed one particular difference in Swiatek’s game since hiring Francisco Roig as her coach.
Kim Clijsters has noticed a change in Iga Swiatek’s backhand
“When we saw her at Indian Wells and in Miami, you could see the fear, the stress kind of in her body, the way that she was looking over at times that had her players box and so now to see her with a different kind of energy out there,” Clijsters, a former US Open champion, said on the Love All Podcast.
“She’s still showing, like, the fist bumps, but there’s more of a natural flow to it, whereas before it almost looked like she had to do it to try to pump herself up.
“But it wasn’t a natural way, so to see her, happy out there and, you know, with Roig as well, like, I think he’s an intense coach, but at the same time, he’s also super laid back.
Italian Open semi-finals
- Sorana Cirstea vs Coco Gauff
- Iga Świątek vs Elina Svitolina
“And I think that also kind of, that gives the player that kind of feeling too, of like, ‘hey, like, I believe in you, you got this. Like, why are you worried? You’re good enough, you can beat anybody,’ and blah, blah, blah.
“Sometimes you need somebody to keep repeating that to yourself for you to still believe it after all the wins that she’s had. But it’s really nice to see her happy and to explain that, and yeah, playing great tennis.
“I mean, I watched her match yesterday Osaka, and she was just super, super impressive.”
Clijsters went on to discuss Swiatek’s performance against four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka.
Swiatek dominated the Italian Open fourth-round contest from start to finish, securing a 6-2, 6-1 victory against the former world number one.
Clijsters was left impressed by Swiatek’s performance; and she noticed a change in the Polish star’s approach on her backhand shot.
“Something that I haven’t really see her do that much, and especially on a clay court is – and it’s a very big weapon to have and it’s not always a straight-up winner – but she was able to pull Naomi out of the court on the backhand side with her backhand cross,” Clijsters continued.
Iga Swiatek’s Italian Open
- Round One – BYE
- Round Two – defeated Caty McNally 6-1, 6-7, 6-3
- Round Three – defeated Elisabetta Cocciaretto 6-1, 6-0
- Round Four – defeated Naomi Osaka 6-2, 6-1
- Quarter-finals – defeated Jessica Pegula 6-1, 6-2
- Semi-finals – Elina Svitolina
“Like, she was really hitting it where, you know, a little bit further past the service line and the tram line, and for a lot of players.
“I think Justine Henin had the best slice when she was defending, but a lot of players are really not good when they get stretched out wide and they have to use that slice.
“So, really loved seeing that she was waiting on top of the baseline.
“She saw that her opponent was getting pulled out of the court, and you could see her kind of sneaking forward a little bit, expecting either to hit a dry volley, maybe an easier volley put away, or just an easy forehand where she just was able to go to the open court.”
Was that Iga Swiatek’s best performance of 2026? 🔥
Swiatek is set to play Elina Svitolina in the Italian Open semi-finals later on Thursday.
Swiatek has a 4-2 record against the Ukrainian and has never lost to the world number 10 on a clay-court.
However, Svitolina can take great confidence heading into Thursday’s match. After all, she defeated the Pole in their most recent contest at the 2026 Indian Wells Open.
Elina Svitolina has secured crucial Roland Garros seeding
Svitolina’s Italian Open campaign has seen her leapfrog Jasmine Paolini and Victoria Mboko into the world number eight spot.
As a result, Svitolina has increased her chances of a successful Roland Garros campaign.
By securing a top-eight seed for Roland Garros, Svitolina will not face another top-eight seed until the quarter-finals.
If the Ukrainian had been seeded between nine and 16, she would have been projected to play a top eight seed in the fourth round.
Svitolina will hope to advance past the quarter-finals at Roland Garros this year. After all, she has reached the quarter-final stage on five occasions, but failed to reach the semi-finals once.
Last year, Svitolina defeated Jasmine Paolini on her way to the quarter-finals, before losing to Iga Swiatek.
