The curtain rises at the French Open this weekend as the aces of international tennis come together on the clay court in a more relaxed occasion after last year's muted competition amid COVID-19 restrictions. In the women's tournament, all eyes will be on Iga Swiatek, the potential taker of the top title. Meanwhile, players' mental health will be a focus this time around after Naomi Osaka's stunning withdrawal from the tournament last year.
The women's tournament has often sprung surprise winners but it is hard to see anyone other than Iga Swiatek lifting the Suzanne Lenglen Cup on the Parisian clay this year. The 20-year-old Polish player has it all and in recent months, she has simply been unbeatable. Having triumphed at Roland Garros in 2020, she already has the experience of conquering all before her on red dirt.
When Swiatek unexpectedly took over the world No. 1 ranking following Ash Barty's sudden retirement in March, it seemed to spark something inside the Pole as she will arrive at Roland Garros riding on an incredible 28-match winning streak. It is the longest winning run since Serena Williams bagged 34 consecutive victories in 2013. It is also a far cry from Martina Navratilova's all-time record of 74 from 1984 but such is Swiatek's domination on the slowest surface that it will be a major shock if she does not add another seven wins to that number in Paris.
Swiatek has also won 40 of the last 41 sets she has played and is undefeated since losing to former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko in Dubai in February. The 20-year-old has won her last five events, a run that included titles in Indian Wells, Miami and Rome.
"Honestly I’m going to do the same way I’ve done here, also at other tournaments,” said Swiatek. "I’m going to try to do step-by-step, just think of the next match as I did in these tournaments." If Swiatek does end up triumphing on June 4, it will be the first time in seven years that the women's champion is not a newcomer into the Grand Slam winners' circle.
According to Eurosport tennis analyst Mats Wilander, there will be no room for error for Swiatek. "If it was five sets, I would say Iga Swiatek is always the big, big favorite because the level she would play at over five sets, she would always be the big favorite," three-time French Open winner Wilander said. "Because it’s three sets, there are a lot of women that can come out and play unbelievably for 45 minutes to an hour and in that time they could leave Swiatek 6-3 or up a break and suddenly we now need a little bit of luck to turn the match around.
"Because it’s three sets, I say she’s the favorite for sure, but it’s much more difficult to consistently be the favorite over three sets."
Swiatek has been so red hot in recent weeks that it's hard to see anyone who will have the ability to challenge her.
Defending champion and world No. 2 Barbora Krejcikova is still recovering from an arm injury while last year's runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova has already pulled out injured.
Swiatek's biggest rival could well be Ons Jabeur. The sixth-ranked Tunisian triumphed in Madrid – a tournament the Pole opted to skip – but was then demolished in the Rome final by Swiatek.
The war in Ukraine will be in many players' thoughts. Russian and Belarusian players will be able to compete at Roland Garros but will then have to sit out Wimbledon as All England Club officials barred competitors from the two countries due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow calls a "special military operation." Belarus has been a key staging area for the invasion. Swiatek has been pinning a ribbon in Ukrainian flag colors to her hat and she will continue to do so. "I’m going to wear it until the situation is going to get better," she said.
The mental toll of professional tennis will also be in focus in the tournament, a year since four-time major winner Naomi Osaka sparked fresh debate around athletes' mental health. The former world No. 1 stunned the tennis world when she withdrew from the clay court major after boycotting post-match media duties, prompting a row with tournament officials.
The Japanese player revealed she had been suffering from depression for almost three years, setting off a ripple effect as top athletes like Olympic gymnastics great Simone Biles put their well-being into focus.
The saga also cast a spotlight on tennis majors' pressure-cooker post-match media mandates, as Roland-Garros organizers conceded they could "do better" on mental health. Osaka did not respond to a request for comment this week.
Tournament director Amelie Mauresmo told reporters in March that organizers were preparing "even weeks before" the tournament to ensure they were equal to the challenge. "We see already that the emotions are really, really hard sometimes to handle for some players," she said. Mauresmo, a former world No. 1 and two-time Grand Slam winner, said she would be the first person to address players' complaints and that she had been in contact with Osaka's camp. "We are really prepared for what might or might not come on this side of the mental health part for this year," she added.
Additional measures have been arranged to ease the burden of media obligations. Organizers plan to arrange mixed zones for players who have not been specifically requested for press conferences and will reportedly instruct moderators to intervene if questions grow repetitive. Osaka's stand a year ago sent organizers and brands scrambling to better support their athletes but progress has been incremental.
The United States Tennis Association (USTA) announced a mental health initiative ahead of the U.S. Open in August but saw a tearful Osaka announce a brief hiatus from the sport after she confessed that winning no longer brought her happiness. Last month, former world No. 1 Chris Evert called for discussion on the sport's mental toll, after German Alexander Zverev was thrown out of a tournament in Acapulco for smashing his racket repeatedly against the umpire's chair and Australian Nick Kyrgios was fined for outbursts at Indian Wells.
Daria Abramowicz, the mental well-being advisor for ASICS EMEA and high-performance sports and performance psychologist for world No. 1 Iga Swiatek, said mental health has taken on a role of paramount importance in athletes' lives. "It's always crucial that a player is starting to work on her or himself ... as an individual, taking care of, you know, social support network, having a chance to actually gain something from expert support in terms of mental health," she told Reuters. ASICS EMEA last week announced it would fund mental health support as part of new and existing athlete contracts. "This generation of athletes, and particularly I think women, they're so vocal about mental health and its role in terms of overall well-being," said Abramowicz. "It's something that absolutely is crucial."
