Can Swiatek find her feet on red clay again?

Not too long ago, the women’s singles draw at the French Open was essentially a battle to see who would finish second. It was almost a certainty that Iga Swiatek would clinch the title.

- Shahid Judge

That notion came crashing down last year when Swiatek, struggling with form, lost in the semi-final. Titles did follow at Wimbledon, Cincinnati Masters and the WTA 500 event in Seoul, but the 24-year-old has not quite hit the same rhythm that saw her win 37 consecutive matches in 2022.

Swiatek is still not back to her best as the tour returns to Roland Garros. But she has equipped herself with some important new additions to her coaching staff. In April, the four-time French Open champion began working with Francisco Roig — the veteran Spanish coach who helped Rafael Nadal win each of his 22 Grand Slams.

In the search to find her feet on clay once again, she even spent a brief stint at the Nadal Academy, hitting with the former world No.1, dubbed the King of Clay, who never lost his touch on the surface. “I want to go back to solid foundations and feel like a wall on the court again, making no mistakes and forcing my opponents to make them,” Swiatek said in Polish to Sport.pl. “I’ve always had that. It was my advantage.”