Daily Dose of Social Media: Swiatek returns to Roland Garros grind as Krejcikova dazzles at Vogue Awards

In a new Daily Dose of Social Media, the first images of Iga Swiatek back at Roland Garros appeared as she prepares her title defense, while the 2021 champion Barbora Krejcikova was honored by Vogue Czechia as the most influential female athlete in the country.

On the other hand, Coco Gauff provided a funny moment with a serve directly to the stands, while Lorenzo Musetti surprised with his choice for his "Tennis Mount Rushmore," mentioning the four players he would put on such a monument.

Coco Gauff had one of the most epic victories of her career in the semifinals of the Rome Open, after overcoming Zheng Qinwen in a three-and-a-half-hour battle – the longest match in WTA Rome Open history – with a score of 7-6(3), 4-6, 7-6(4), advancing to her 4th WTA 1000 final, where she will seek her third title in the category.

Beyond the result and the epic match they had, Gauff had a peculiar moment in the middle of the match when she launched a serve to the stands, far from the service box, during the first set, which was a double fault when she began her service game at 5-3. The public reacted with laughter, and Gauff herself laughed at the situation after hitting the ball with the frame of her racket, causing the strange trajectory of the ball directly into the stands. In any case, it was all anecdotal, since although Zheng got the break, Gauff ended up making amends by winning the tie-break – and a few hours later, the victory that qualified her for the tournament final.

In her next match, she will face local Jasmine Paolini in the final this Saturday, who is seeking her second WTA 1000 title and became the first Italian to reach the final of the tournament since 2015.

Iga Swiatek is back on the clay courts training to defend her crown at Roland Garros. The Queen of Clay has had a difficult swing, unable to defend her titles in Madrid or Rome, which meant a significant loss of points that will leave her – at least – as world No. 4 starting this Monday, although if Paolini wins the Rome Open title this Saturday, the Pole will fall to the No. 5 position, something that seemed unthinkable just a few months ago.

However, Swiatek must focus on her next challenge, which is at the French Open, where she has won the title in 4 of the last 5 editions and has an incredible record of 35-2 (95%), currently on a 21-match winning streak in Paris. The 23-year-old is already preparing in Paris, still about 10 days before her debut, and has already been training on the center court, which could be the perfect stage to turn the page on a last year without titles or finals, and in which there have been more doubts than certainties regarding her level.

Barbora Krejcikova shone at a Vogue Czechia event, the LEaders Awards 2025, which celebrated the most influential Czech women in different fields, including the world of sports, where the two-time Grand Slam champion was the big winner with local public support. Krejcikova attended the gala event and was awarded as the most influential female athlete in the country, sharing her thanks for the honor received on social media.

The former world No. 2 has not appeared on the court in all of 2025 due to a back injury that had already been bothering her in the second part of 2024. After winning the title at Wimbledon and traveling to the clay courts of Paris for the Olympic Games just a couple of weeks later, it ended up taking its toll. While she had a couple more appearances later in the year, she has not stepped onto the court again in 2025. However, this will come to an end this Sunday when she competes in the Strasbourg Open, although this time only in the doubles category, where she will partner with her compatriot, the 20-year-old Linda Noskova, with the aim of gaining rhythm and seeing her physical condition, hoping to be ready to return to the court at Roland Garros, a tournament she already won back in 2021.

The Italian sensation Lorenzo Musetti referred to his tennis 'Mt. Rushmore', choosing the four players he would put on a monument in the purest Mount Rushmore style. The world No. 9 – recent Rome Open semifinalist – opted for the Big Three: Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer, and added none other than Pete Sampras, a 14-time Grand Slam champion who held the record for the most major titles until the emergence of Roger Federer as the dominant force on the Tour 20 years ago.

Musetti had another great week in Rome and can arrive full of confidence at the upcoming Roland Garros, with a 13-3 record, having reached the final at the Monte-Carlo Masters and semifinals in Madrid and Rome Open. In the Monte-Carlo final, he had fallen to Carlos Alcaraz, and this time in Rome, history repeated itself, as he was eliminated by the Spaniard in straight sets (3-6, 6-7). Without a doubt, Musetti will go all out at the French Open, with the conviction that he can be considered one of the candidates for the final stages, after reaching – at least – the semifinals in the Masters 1000 events on clay courts three consecutive times.

The stars of the ATP and WTA underwent an 'underarm serve' challenge, in which they tried to hit the ball into a small box, putting spin on it as it bounced. The challenge seemed simpler than it turned out to be, as all the stars who tried it had serious difficulties achieving it. Did any of the players manage to overcome the challenge? Players such as Casper Ruud, Daria Kasatkina, Arthur Fils, Diana Shnaider, Hubert Hurkacz, and Bianca Andreescu participated in the video.