"The tournament in Rome is a step forward for me": Iga Swiatek takes positives into Roland Garros

Iga Swiatek drew positive lessons from the defeat in the Rome Open semifinals, where she could not sustain her level against an impressive Elina Svitolina, and the Ukrainian ultimately produced a surprise over Swiatek in a clash between Rome Open champions that ended 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 in favor of the 31-year-old Ukrainian.

Swiatek arrived in Rome with doubts about her recent level – after early exits in tournaments such as Stuttgart and the Madrid Open. However, this time she managed to achieve several confidence-reviving victories – including wins against Naomi Osaka and Jessica Pegula – both conceding only three games in each match.

Swiatek returned to a semifinal of a tournament for the first time in the season and the first time since the US Open in September 2025 – when she ended up taking the title. Since then, the Pole had not gone so far in tournaments of any category, this being her first semifinal in a long time.

"Looking from the perspective of how I felt even in the USA, the tournament in Rome is a step forward for me,” said the former world No. 1 to Polish media Sport. “Obviously, I want more, but playing tennis still brought me pleasure. And that's not so obvious and shouldn't be taken for granted."

With her exit from Rome, attention is now placed on Roland Garros for the Pole. Swiatek arrives at the French Open with a 6-3 record in the clay swing, and her best result of the season was reaching the semifinals in Rome. The world No. 3 will still be among the favourites for the title, considering her historic record in Paris: 40-3, including four titles (2020, 22, 23, 24).

Swiatek will be the third seed at Roland Garros and will try to lift a clay swing title again – something she has not achieved since the 2024 French Open. In 2025 she did not reach any finals – although she was eliminated in the semifinals in Paris – while this year she will once again arrive at the second Grand Slam of the season without a title on the surface.

While Swiatek is already preparing for her arrival in Paris, she left a revitalising message of confidence on social media in which she highlighted the positives of her Rome campaign – where she recorded four wins before falling to Svitolina.

“Yesterday’s match was challenging, and of course, I wished for a different outcome. However, I truly enjoyed playing here and feel like my game is stepping up with all the work we’ve put in lately,” she posted. “Rome is always special to me. Between the tennis, the crowd, and let’s be honest, the food, I’m already looking forward to being back next year. Grazie!”

The Pole will defend semifinals at Roland Garros after in 2025 she produced a strong campaign, but eventually lost to world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka – including a 0-6 in the third set. This time Swiatek will look to bounce back and reclaim the Roland Garros trophy – aiming to become the third player in the Open Era with five titles in Paris – after Steffi Graf and Chris Evert.