'Expect her to play her best tennis': Coco Gauff refuses to underestimate Iga Swiatek for French Open despite recent struggles

America’s Coco Gauff has refused to rule out Poland’s Iga Swiatek from a possible list of contenders from the upcoming French Open. The 23-year-old, who has been regarded as one of the best players currently playing in women’s tennis, is going through a rough patch.

Swiatek has not won any WTA event since lifting the French Open last year. This year, the current world number four has failed to cement a spot in the final of any event despite featuring in eight competitions. Her most recent outing was in the Rome Open, where she was knocked out in the third round after losing to America’s Danielle Collins in straight sets with a score of 6-1, 7-5.

One of the players who defeated Swiatek in the semifinal of an event this year is America’s Gauff. The new world number two secured a straight-set win over Swiatek in the last-four clash of the Madrid Open with a score of 6-1, 6-1. Gauff, who recently cemented her spot in the quarterfinals of the ongoing Rome Open after beating Britain’s Emma Raducanu, spoke to the media, where she refused to rule out Swiatek from the list of contenders for the upcoming edition of the Roland Garros. She admitted that while the Warsaw-born star has struggled in the recent past, she suggested that no player would take her easy, especially considering that four out of her five Grand Slam triumphs came while playing in Paris.

“For sure it changes some things when you see someone who won Roland Garros that many times not having the best results,” Gauff said. “I think it definitely gives players a lot of confidence when they come to face her. You also have to respect that she’s a four-time champion at Roland Garros. I always think if someone wins a tournament that many times, regardless of what shape they’re in, they can definitely figure out a way to win again. If I were to play her at the French Open, I would throw away the results in Madrid, not even think about it, expect her to play her best tennis.”

After suffering a defeat in Rome, Swiatek spoke to the media and admitted that she must be doing something wrong. “For sure, it hasn’t been easy. For sure, I’m doing something wrong,” she said. “So I need to just regroup and kind of change some stuff. I had some advice from the team. I’ll just try to do that. Daria [Abramowicz, Swiatek’s psychologist], like everybody from my team. We talked and came to some conclusions. I’m just going to change my mindset a little bit. I just wasn’t there; present to fight and to compete. I focused on mistakes. It’s my mistake, and I’m not doing things right. The focus is on the wrong things from my side and I’ll try to change that.”