Former champion Ana Ivanovic weighs in on Swiatek’s French Open rivals

Sunday, 26 May 2024 at 05:00

The former French Open champion, Ana Ivanovic, has selected the top contenders who could challenge the defending champion Iga Swiatek at Roland Garros. The Serbian ex-tennis star has positioned Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina as the main threats to the Polish player.

Swiatek is the frontrunner to claim the title for the third consecutive time and the fourth in her career, especially after her 12 consecutive wins on clay, which earned her the WTA 1000 titles at the Madrid Open and the Rome Open, both with victories over Sabalenka in the finals.

The biggest threats to Swiatek

Ana Ivanovic closely follows the WTA Tour and has no doubt that Swiatek is the favorite in the tournament that suits her best. However, the former player believes there are two competitors who could challenge Swiatek's reign at Roland Garros "I think the biggest threat is Aryna Sabalenka – they (her and Swiatek) played an amazing match in Madrid. It was a very tight one. And Elena Rybakina, even though clay is probably not her favorite surface," Ivanovic told Ubitennis.

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Regarding the dark horses that could cause an upset, Ivanovic chose Danielle Collins as a strong contender to advance deep into the later rounds: "Collins had an amazing tournament, winning back-to-back in Miami and Charleston and also playing well again in Rome. I think she is a dark horse for the French Open."

"She seems to play very freely and enjoy herself out there. She has been in very good form this year, winning a lot of matches. She has a big chance to go far into the second week of the French Open," the former world No. 1 added.

Collins won 22 of the last 25 matches she played

Ivanovic also highlighted the 17-year-old Russian Mirra Andreeva. The teenager reached the third round in her debut and made it to the quarterfinals of the recent Madrid Open, but fell to the eventual finalist Sabalenka: "I think now in women’s tennis we see more familiar faces in the semifinals and finals. But I would really like to see Mirra Andreeva go far," concluded Ivanovic.

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José Morgado

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Just incredible. 15yo Mirra Andreeva beats AusOpen semifinalist Magda Linette 6-3, 6-3 to reach the last 16 in Madrid. She will face #2 Sabalenka on Monday.