"She's so comfortable on the courts": Laura Robson names 'best' player in women's tennis on clay ahead of French Open

Former British player Laura Robson has called Poland’s Iga Swiatek ‘the best player’ on clay in women’s tennis. The 23-year-old, who is regarded as one of the best player currently playing in women’s tennis in the singles category, is going through a lean patch this year.

Swiatek has been featured in eight competitions this year, but she has not been able to cement a spot in the final in any of them. Her most recent outing was at the Rome Open, where she was knocked out after losing in the second round to America’s Danielle Collins in straight sets with a score of 6-1, 7-5. Those performances have impacted Swiatek’s standing in the WTA rankings, as she is now ranked fifth.

Despite all of that, former British player Robson stated that Swiatek remains the best player in women’s tennis on clay. The 31-year-old, while speaking to TNT Sports, stated her point of view about the former world number one’s chances ahead of the French Open 2025. Robson was of the opinion that Swiatek is struggling with confidence because of some recent results, but she is good enough to produce the goods in a competition where she has lifted the title four times.

"For sure, I mean she's won it enough times," said Robson. "She's so comfortable on the courts and she's still, in my view, the best clay court player in the world when she's on it and when she's got confidence. If she can build through the first week, get a couple of wins and get the belief back in her game, then for sure you put her up there. I think in some capacity, other players have changed their tactics against her, especially someone like Coco, who had such a tough record against Iga for a long time and then gets a few wins because she's tactically playing a lot differently. So I think then you start to kind of stress yourself out a bit and worry a lot about what you're doing wrong out there, but I think she's also doing a lot of things right and she just hasn't come through a couple of close matches, and then it just seems like she's a little bit low on confidence at the moment. Tennis sometimes is such a tough game in that regard, where one result can change your next few months."