Iga Swiatek will be at the Roland Garros 2023, and she will have the task of defending the title won last season. After the fear and the injury in Rome, the Pole world no.1 will now be the woman to beat in the Bois de Boulogne.
Tennis enthusiasts, and in particular those from Paris, as well as the organizers of the Roland Garros themselves, had been in suspense awaiting news from the defending champion Iga Swiatek regarding their health conditions.
In fact, after Rafael Nadal’s sensational announcement of a forfeit, the fans saw the real risk of a renunciation even by the number 1 in the world materialize. Her retirement against Elena Rybakina in Rome triggered the alarm, which however Swiatek promptly turned off with a post on social media in which she reassured everyone about her state of form and that, barring surprises, she will regularly attend the Roland Garros.
She wrote: “Update, I need a few days off for sure. We’re booking tickets for Paris so… fingers crossed. Hope to see you soon. I’ll be back on the pitches soon as the injury shouldn’t be anything serious. I was right to stop to avoid further problems. I just need to recover, I’ll take a couple of days off, but I have plenty of time to train before the Roland Garros.”
Iga, as mentioned, will be the woman to beat in Paris. She has already won twice on the French Open clay-courts, and in Rome she was dominating before the injury. On clay, this year, she won the tournament in Stuttgart and lost in the final in Madrid. In both cases, her opponent was Aryna Sabalenka.
Experience and desire to redeem herself after a season of downs, rather than ups, will be an explosive mix, which will inevitably put her in the front row as favorite in Paris.
Iga Swiatek can win the Roland Garros 2023
If on the one hand there is Swiatek who smiles and above all makes the fans smile, reassuring them of her presence in Paris, on the other there is another absolute protagonist who experiences the diametrically opposite situation.
Not only Iga. After weeks of total silence, Rafael Nadal appeared before journalists on May 18 at a specially organized press conference to update everyone on his form moment and his future plans.
Words came out of the Spaniard’s mouth regarding the renunciation of Roland Garros, his natural habitat, but above all that the 2024 season will perhaps be his last on the tour.