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'She is going to win 7-8 titles,' Mats Wilander thinks Iga Swiatek is as favourite as Rafael Nadal to win French Open

Originally posted on FirstSportz | By Achintya A A | Last updated 5/24/24

Seven-time singles Grand Slam champion and former world number from Sweden, Mats Wilander , spoke extremely highly of the current women’s number one, Iga Swiatek . He likened her French Open results to that of Rafael Nadal ’s, which is the highest praise a tennis player can receive.

Speaking to Eurosport ahead of the French Open, Mats Wilander opened up about his favorite on the women’s side and picked Iga Swiatek as the sole option. He went on to say that she is as big a favorite as Rafael Nadal has been throughout the years, which shows how confident he is about the Polish star’s success on Parisian clay.

I think Iga is a big favourite this year as Rafa has been over all these years. He's been the favourite and he's won 14. Mats Wilander said

Wilander was referring to Nadal’s success at Roland Garros, where he has lost just 3 matches in the 17 editions that he was part of, winning the other 14 times. This remains one of the greatest achievements in tennis and all of sport, so, likening this to Swiatek’s success is a big commitment. He believes Swiatek will win plenty more French Opens, to add to her already impressive tally of three titles.

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

There is truth in the fact that Swiatek is the big favorite, heading into the tournament, as she has won the previous two editions and is coming from a high of winning consecutive WTA 1000 titles in Madrid and Rome.

Mats Wilander highlights that Iga Swiatek may not be completely invincible in Paris

After Wilander said some amazing things about Swiatek, he was sure to include a caveat which added ambiguity to his predictions. He said that Swiatek has some limitations, given the conditions are terrible and she is playing an opponent she doesn’t prefer going up against.

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 terrible for her. There are very, very few players that are terrible for her. Mats Wilander said

He then clarified that Grand Slam matches on the women’s side can sway in any direction very quickly as they are best of three set encounters.

It's two out of three sets, yes, she can run into Aryna Sabalenka, who will have an unbelievable one hour of tennis and suddenly Iga is down a set and maybe a break. Mats Wilander added

Giving credit to Sabalenka, Wilander says she is one of the players who can play an hour of unbelievable tennis and get an insurmountable lead against Swiatek at the start of the match. This has been displayed a couple of times this season, where Sabalenka pushed Swiatek to her limits.

This article first appeared on FirstSportz and was syndicated with permission.

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