As Iga Swiatek continues to sweep through the field at Roland Garros, former World No.1 Justine Henin believes the Polish star will remain a dominant force on the red clay for years to come.
Swiatek has powered past all challengers at this year's French Open, dropping her only set to four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka in the second round. Subsequently, the reigning champion has recorded dominant victories in all her matches, and is once again the favorite to claim the title when she faces Italian Jasmine Paolini in Saturday's final.
In an interview with the WTA, retired Belgian star Justine Henin spoke on Swiatek's dominance on clay, comparing it to her own impressive abilities on the red surface.
"I grew up on clay,” said Henin. “For me, was fun to try to find a way to create a different game on this surface. When I won the juniors, I felt the energy here was very good for me -- as it is, I think, for Iga today. I think she can win more than I won, for sure.
“Everyone is playing the same game they play on hard. I think clay is tough for most of the girls, no? I think when you see Iga on clay, there isn’t much competition. I think we can deal with all those surfaces and not so many players can do that in a certain way.
"Iga is the boss. But we can see how hard it is to win and to win and to win. It’s tough to stay at the top of the game for such a long time. Iga, she has something special for this. I think she is really strong, and if she stays healthy, keeps the motivation, she can win a lot here.”
“Everyone is playing the same game they play on hard. I think clay is tough for most of the girls, no? I think when you see Iga on clay, there isn’t much competition. I think we can deal with all those surfaces and not so many players can do that in a certain way.
"Iga is the boss. But we can see how hard it is to win and to win and to win. It’s tough to stay at the top of the game for such a long time. Iga, she has something special for this. I think she is really strong, and if she stays healthy, keeps the motivation, she can win a lot here.”
Growing up in a household where soccer was king, my earliest memories are filled with chants from packed stadiums and the rhythm of a ball being passed across neighborhood streets. But somewhere along the way, the quiet elegance and raw emotion of tennis pulled me in. What began as a curiosity became a lifelong passion; not just for the sport itself, but for the stories it tells: of grit, of heartbreak, of improbable comebacks and human resilience.
As a tennis writer, I bring the observational lens of someone who didn’t grow up in the sport, but fell in love with it as an outsider; a perspective that lets me see both its technical beauty and its emotional depth. Over the years working with TennisUpToDate, I’ve had the privilege of reaching more than 3.5 million readers worldwide, with one of my features ranking among the site’s top three articles.
With a background in storytelling and a creative mind always searching for meaning beyond the scoreboard, I aim to craft narratives that go deeper than results and rankings. Whether it’s a rising star breaking through or a veteran fighting off Father Time, I try to capture the heartbeat behind the headlines.
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