Former world No. 1 Jim Courier says Iga Swiatek is the dominant favorite for the French Open title, just like Rafael Nadal has been for years.
Swiatek, 20, captured her maiden Grand Slam title at the 2020 French Open.
Last year, Swiatek failed to defend her French Open title after losing to Maria Sakkari in the quarterfinal.
Swiatek has won her last 24 matches and she is in a great form ahead of the French Open.
Just like Courier, many consider Swiatek as the clear favorite for the French Open title.
“She is the dominant favorite,” Courier said on Tennis Channel. “She is what Nadal has been going in a lot of years. There’s always turbulence in the women’s draw. Always expect the unexpected.”
Swiatek: I don’t have doubts anymore
After winning her first Grand Slam title, Swiatek needed to prove to herself that her French Open run wasn’t a fluke.
Now, Swiatek is much more confident in herself and she believes that she is a quality player.
“Last year I feel like I still was trying to find some consistency in the wins that I had, and also confirmation that Roland Garros wasn’t just like a [one-off] tournament,” Swiatek told reporters at Media Day in Rome. “I feel like I found that and I feel like I can move forward and just focus on my next goals.
“The tournaments that I played this year have shown me that I can play better tennis on hard courts. Right now the transition that I have to do to clay, it’s pretty different because usually it was like, ‘Whoa, clay, finally I can play well.’ Right now it’s a little bit different because I feel like my level was high anyway. It didn’t strike me [the same] this year.”
It remains to be seen if Swiatek can win her second French Open title this year.