Last year, Iga Swiatek won her second title on clay at Roland Garros, dominating Karolina Muchova in the final (6-2, 5-7, 6-4). Who are the players most likely to succeed her on the list this year? Workforce review.
Iga Swiatek *****
Because you are never better served than by yourself, the Pole is still the big favorite in this 2024 edition, she who is the double title holder. Already a winner in 2020, this big fan of Rafael Nadal can therefore aim for the fourth place, at only 22 years old. To do this, the world number one will have to find the path to victory in the Grand Slam, where she has not won since the last Roland-Garros. But clay remains his favorite surface.
Beaten at 3e round of the Australian Open, the native of Warsaw then raised the bar by winning the Doha tournament and the Masters 1000 in Indian Wells. Above all, she marked her territory in Madrid, with a resounding victory over Aryna Sabalenka, her main rival, in the final, for what is undoubtedly the best women’s match since the start of the year (7-5, 4-6 , 7-6). A success with a taste of revenge for Swiatek, who lost against the Belarusian at the same stage in the Spanish capital in 2023.
The two patronesses of world tennis then met in Rome, a few days later, still in the final. And there, there was no match: 6-2, 6-3 victory for the world No. 1. Enough to mark its territory for Roland-Garros.
Aryna Sabalenka****
Since her victory at the 2023 Australian Open, Sabalenka has no longer been the same player at the Grand Slam. It is even the most consistent, since it has at least reached the semi-finals in the last four majors. Finalist at the US Open, she retained her title in Melbourne in January, crushing the competition (no sets conceded, only 31 games lost). The tragic death of her former companion in March, on the sidelines of the Miami tournament, could have cut the momentum of the player from Minsk, but she continued to perform on the circuit, playing in the finals in Madrid and Rome.
Last year, the Belarusian narrowly missed the Roland-Garros final, beaten by Karolina Muchova in the last four even though she had a match point. Revengeful, the world number 2 does not intend to make the same mistake twice and intends to lift the Roland-Garros trophy for the first time, at the age of 26. To do this, she will have to mentally recover from her recent failures in the final against Swiatek.
Coco Gauff **
By saying that Coco Gauff had been promised a Grand Slam victory since she was a teenager, we almost ended up getting impatient. But the prodigy’s glory day arrived last September, when she won the US Open, at home and at only 19 years old… Because Gauff is still a player in the process of developing, and we had that a little too quickly forgotten. Now, the Atlanta native must confirm. The only player able to worry Sabalenka at the Australian Open in the semi-final, Gauff failed to lift any trophy for the rest of the season. But she loves Paris, and her tears of disappointment following her defeat in the final, in 2022, left their mark and won French hearts.
All that remains is to overcome the Swiatek obstacle. Two years ago, it was already she who had prevented the American from winning her first Grand Slam tournament. Rebelote last year, in the quarter-final this time. And while she was gaining strength on the clay court of Rome this year, it was again the Pole who ended her journey in the semi-final.
Elena Rybakina *
It is an understatement to say that the story between Elena Rybakina and Roland-Garros is struggling to take off. The Kazakh’s best result in Paris remains a quarter-final in 2021. Last year, while she could have serious ambitions after her title in Rome, she was forced to withdraw before her 3e tower, affected by a virus. Why not do the opposite this year? Sick, the 4th player in the world had to skip the Roman tournament…
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In any case, the Muscovite by birth has been a sure bet on the women’s circuit since her unexpected coronation at Wimbledon in 2022. And her game suits clay court better and better. Before Roland, she won the Stuttgart tournament by defeating Swiatek in the semi-final, then she gave Sabalenka a hard time in the semi-final of the WTA 1000 in Madrid. Enough to hope to go very far in Paris.
