Why Swiatek's reign as 'Queen of Clay' is under threat

French Open 2025

Dates: 25 May-8 June Venue: Roland Garros

Coverage: Live power commentary connected BBC 5 Sports Extra, positive unrecorded matter commentaries connected nan BBC Sport website and app

Iga Swiatek's caller power astatine nan French Open - and nan tournaments starring up to it - has led to a regal nickname: nan Queen of Clay.

The 23-year-old Pole has won 4 of nan past 5 Roland Garros women's singles titles and arrives successful Paris arsenic nan three-time defending champion.

But this twelvemonth location are sizeable doubts astir if she tin proceed her reign.

For nan first clip since 2020 - erstwhile she claimed her maiden title arsenic an unheralded teen - Swiatek arrives without winning a WTA tourney successful nan first 5 months of nan season.

As a result, nan erstwhile long-time world number 1 has dropped to 5th successful nan rankings.

It begs nan evident question: tin she still beryllium considered nan favourite to assistance nan Coupe Suzanne Lenglen?

Most players connected nan WTA Tour would beryllium envious of Swiatek's grounds this season.

She has won 27 of her 36 matches truthful far, reaching 4 semi-finals and contesting different 3 quarter-finals successful 8 tournaments.

But Swiatek has seldom reached her ascendant champion complete nan past fewer months.

She has often looked tense, tightly coiled pinch emotion, and it has poured retired aft reliable defeats.

Swiatek was inconsolable aft losing successful nan Olympics semi-finals astatine Roland Garros past summer, saying she cried for "six hours" afterwards.

Two weeks later came a bombshell - Swiatek had grounded a doping test.

It was announced successful November she had tested affirmative for bosom medicine trimetazidine (TMZ) successful an out-of-competition sample and was subsequently fixed a one-month prohibition aft nan International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) accepted nan consequence was caused by contamination.

"Truth to beryllium told, complete nan past months, location has ever been something," Swiatek told BBC Sport successful Madrid earlier successful May.

"My life went upside down successful November. It wasn't easy and wasn't easy to judge afterwards.

"It took maine a agelong clip to do that, but now I consciousness for illustration I person abstraction conscionable to activity and hopefully I'm going to usage that.

"I'm looking for a serene clip and conscionable waiting for it to happen."

Swiatek was alluding to a bid of issues that person cropped up this year.

In March, Swiatek was criticised for reacting angrily towards a shot boy astatine Indian Wells, past given other security aft being verbally abused by an "aggressive and taunting" instrumentality successful Miami.

She made a short travel backmost to Warsaw past period for nan ceremonial of her grandfather earlier her Madrid Open title defence began.

During a dense semi-final conclusion by Coco Gauff, Swiatek collapsed down astatine a changeover and sobbed beneath her towel.

And successful Rome, she was visibly upset during a little chat pinch nan media aft a chastening third-round nonaccomplishment to Danielle Collins.

"For judge it hasn't been easy. For judge I'm doing thing wrong," she said afterwards.

"I request to regroup and alteration immoderate stuff."

With these issues lingering successful nan background, Swiatek has been obscurity adjacent her champion level passim nan clay-court swing.

Her destructive forehand - arguably her astir effective instrumentality - has mislaid its reliability, while her work crippled has been picked isolated by big-hitting opponents.

The mistakes, according to Swiatek, are because of flimsy method tweaks she is making.

But location is besides an constituent of uncertainty successful her usually crisp footwork, hinting astatine her situation of confidence.

The mode of nan early exit successful Rome - a 6-1 7-5 nonaccomplishment to Collins - was peculiarly concerning, pinch Swiatek converting conscionable 2 of 10 break opportunities.

"I'm making decisions that are not really bully astatine nan infinitesimal because I conscionable retrieve really it felt successful erstwhile tournaments aliases erstwhile years," Swiatek said.

"I benignant of presume it's going to spell successful and past I make mistakes.

"It's not nan aforesaid - I'm confused."

Swiatek appointed Wim Fissette - a starring coach who has helped respective players triumph Grand Slams - aft parting ways pinch Tomasz Wiktorowski past year.

In a caller question and reply pinch a Polish journalist, Swiatek said it was "very harsh and unfair" to blasted Fissette for her caller results.

"During a tournament, nether nan power of various factors, including stress, I sometimes make a correction and spell backmost to my aged technique," she told nan Sportowefakty website., external

"But it's not nan coach's responsibility - that's really training and athletics work.

"The full process is overmuch much analyzable than it mightiness look to personification watching from nan sofa successful beforehand of nan TV."

For Swiatek, nan clay-court events starring up to nan French Open usually build her hit and confidence, ensuring she tin highest astatine nan business extremity of nan tournament.

Clearly that has not happened this year, but Roland Garros is nan 1 spot wherever you would backmost Swiatek to rediscover her mojo.

The statistic underline her caller dominance:

"Sometimes you tin commencement nan Grand Slam successful really bad style and not playing perfectly, but past find your crippled during," Swiatek told BBC Sport.

"This is simply a two-week tourney truthful I deliberation it's intolerable to highest for nan full arena - you conscionable request to benignant of survive."

Swiatek's velocity and agility of activity springiness her clip to unleash her Rafael Nadal-esque top-spin forehand - a cardinal constituent successful her success.

American world number 2 Gauff, 1 of nan main contenders for nan trophy, insists it would beryllium foolish to norm Swiatek out.

"I ever deliberation if personification wins a tourney that galore times, sloppy of what style they're in, they tin decidedly fig retired a measurement to triumph again," Gauff said.

But instantly aft her Rome defeat, Swiatek seemed unsure.

She curtly dismissed suggestions that returning to Roland Garros could rekindle affirmative feelings.

Yet her early presence successful Paris - practising connected Court Philippe Chatrier astatine nan extremity of past week - showed she hopes familiarity will breed success.