Former world No. 3, Pam Shriver, shared her opinion that Iga Swiatek could pursue Chris Evert's French Open record, but she also emphasized the need for caution regarding potential competition, particularly from Mirra Andreeva.
Shriver participated in the Inside-In podcast on Tennis Channel and commented on Swiatek's impressive clay court performance. The Polish player has won 28 matches at the French Open with just two defeats, resulting in a remarkable 93% success rate in the tournament.
She has already claimed the title three times at the age of 22. Her first victory was in 2020 when she surprised everyone by winning all her matches in straight sets, with an average of just two games lost per set played.
Chris Evert currently holds the record with 7 Roland Garros titles, followed by Steffi Graf with 6. According to Pam Shriver, Swiatek has a promising future, especially at the French Open, and she sees her as having the potential to chase down Evert's record:
“I do think Iga Swiatek can certainly chase down Chrissie’s record, already with three. It’s hard to believe it’s two years ago this week that Iga played that crazy Roland Garros in the middle of October because of the pandemic. That’s what started to up her tally,” former US Open finalist said.
However, Shriver also cautioned that we cannot predict what the future holds or which players might emerge as contenders in upcoming clay court tournaments. She pointed out Mirra Andreeva, a 16-year-old Russian player with an impressive 23-4 record on clay, who could pose a threat to Swiatek in the future:
“Anything is possible. I think she can (Swiatek to reach Evert's record). Obviously you don’t know what’s around the corner as far as if Andreeva, for example, just becomes a great clay court player,” she added.
“But who else looks as comfortable on clay… whether it’s a little older than Iga, the same age or a little bit younger… nobody,” former world No. 3 stated.
Pam Shriver believes Iga Swiatek can chase down Chris Evert’s Roland Garros record: “I do think Iga Swiatek can certainly chase down Chrissie’s record, already with three. It’s hard to believe it’s two years ago this week that Iga played that crazy Roland Garros in the middle of…
