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Iga Swiatek looked like her usual self against Emma Raducanu in the second round of the French Open. The World No. 5 has dominated this major over the past five years, winning it four times.
While there have been doubts recently about whether that trend will continue, Swiatek is rounding into form at Roland-Garros. She won in straight sets in the first round and dropped just three games against the former US Open champion in this 6-1 6-2 victory.
Raducanu made a brutally honest statement on the Polish superstar's performance on Wednesday, per ESPN's Tom Hamilton.
“It was a really difficult match,” Raducanu said. “Iga played really well. Yeah, it was tough. I think in the beginning of the match it was pretty tight. As it went on, I think she grew in confidence. I just felt a bit exposed.”
Surprisingly, Swiatek has had a rough clay-court season. The five-time Grand Slam champion did not win a tournament or make a final in the three clay tournaments she played in. That included a 6-1 6-1 drubbing at the hands of Coco Gauff in the Madrid Open semifinal. The Polish star, however, sounded like her usual confident self in the post-match interview of Wednesday's second-round clash.
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“I knew what I wanted to do, so I just did it,” Swiatek said. “I had a good time on the court, and I felt the game pretty well, so I just went for it.”
The No. 5 seed will now move on to the third round, where she'll take on Jaqueline Cristian, who is in her first French Open third round. Should Swiatek win this match, she has a potentially brutal road ahead. Iga would then face the winner of Elena Rybakina or Jelena Ostapenko. Both are major champions, with Ostapenko having won the French before and recently beaten Swiatek on clay at the Stuttgart Open.
If the tournament favorite makes another quarterfinal, she will likely take on last year's French Open runner-up and this year's Italian Open champion, Jasmine Paolini, and then potentially world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, and then potentially Coco Gauff. This draw is undoubtedly the most difficult one the five-time major champion will likely have to navigate to hoist the Suzanne Lenglen Cup. And despite being the fifth seed, the Polish superstar has a giant target on her back.
That said, Swiatek can cement herself as this century's greatest clay-court player with a win at Roland-Garros. The only two women to win four French Open titles this century are the 23-year-old and all-time great Justin Henin. Swiatek can stand alone in a little more than a week. It's a long road ahead, but she is still the favorite in Paris.
