Is a third French Open title in the cards for Iga Swiatek? On paper it should be, as the 20-year-old is ranked No. 1 in the world and is already a two-time champion at Roland Garros. However, Swiatek retired from her Rome semifinal match against Elena Rybakina, so there is some cause for concern. It may have been a precautionary move with a Grand Slam on the horizon, but you never know.
Regardless, Swiatek is not in dominant form. Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka are both on fire and can certainly challenge Swiatek in Paris even if the top-seeded Pole is 100 percent physically.
Here are my three best bets on the women’s side.
Elena Rybakina
Nobody wants to be on the same side of the draw as Swiatek, but if there is one player who can handle it that player is Rybakina. In advance of what would be a semifinal showdown at Roland Garros, Rybakina leads the head-to-head series 3-1–including 3-0 this season. The Kazakh has reached the final in two of the last three slams, with a title at Wimbledon last summer followed by a runner-up showing at the 2023 Australian Open.
Aryna Sabalenka
Sabalenka secured her first slam title by beating Rybakina in the Aussie Open final. That result just may send the Belarusian off to the races. She has remained in fine form since, with a runner-up showing in Indian Wells (lost to Rybakina) followed by one clay-court title in Madrid (defeated Swiatek) and a clay-court runner-up result (lost to Swiatek). As the No. 2 seed, Sabalenka is in the bottom half of the Roland Garros draw opposite Swiatek and Rybakina. That in itself pretty much means you have to like her chances.
Jessica Pegula
Speaking of good draws, Pegula is sitting nicely in the bracket. Seeded fourth, the American would not face Sabalenka until the semifinals and would not run into either Swiatek or Rybakina until the title match. It is true that Pegula is better on hard courts than clay, but recent results on the slow stuff include a semifinal in Charleston and a quarterfinal in Madrid. The 29-year-old is playing well enough to capitalize on a favorable draw.
Just hope the West will spend as much money rebuilding Ukraine, as we are on supplying weapons. But not holding my breath.
Hello Margot, I hope you are well.
I wrote a response, but I’m posting it to the non-tennis forum.
Pavlyuchenkovw vs. Mertens
Pav is running on empty—second set TB. I’ll be surprised if Pavs has enough to win the TB and take this to 3.
I don’t remember picking these two this far.
She made it…Yes! Pavlyu is playing much better than I expected so soon after Knee surgery. She’s fought for that TB. Elise looks a bit fresher.
Pavs got to RG final and is good on clay. Hope she wins. She always looks tired so hard to tell!
amy,
Pavs made it. She is in the QFs!
Her Ranking: she was hard to find; she is ranked #333.
Congrats Pavlyuchenkova!
I read somewhere that she is living in Dubai.
It’s true. She has appeared tired for a long time.
That’s great Elizabeth! I caught the end.
So bummed Dasha and Elina are playing each other. Don’t know who to support and may not watch as it will be horrible to see one of them lose…
PS the Cart Horse was very loudly booed when he came on court!!😀
hahaha I know, I found the match on my DVR. It’s perfect and what he deserves!
Mirra Andreeva and Sabs are making a stink about not getting their Visa yet for grass opportunities in the UK.
Elina Svitolina would usually beat Kasatkina. Odds favor Kasatkina but not by much.
I will watch their match If I can stay awake. It was a big day for me yesterday. 😀
Just having a quick peek. Gael is so adorably proud of Elina..they are a lovely couple..
Bravo Elina!!
Feel sad for Dasha though..I really wish they hadn’t played each other…
Gael is so adorable..😀
Am amazed how well Elina is playing having been out so long..
So disappointing that Sloane suddenly made errors at the end of that set. She could have won it!
Am guessing it’s over now..
Here is the page Elizabeth!
Thanks. I should have saved the link.
Congratulations to Ons Jabeur and Haddad Maia!
https://live-tennis.eu/en/wta-singles-draws
Here is the RG WTA QF line-up!
Lesia Tsurenko and Iga are set to play next.
Wow. Not in a good way because coverage of Iga ‘s match has just ended!😠
I hate Eurosport…
I just saw on live scores the Iga match is over evidently because Tsurenko couldn’t continue..big pity. Not that I could watch it even if it was on…
#$%^!
That’s not good for Iga.
And I hope Lesia is okay.
I hope you are enjoying your evening, amy. 😀
Wish I was Elizabeth! How is your foot?
Yes it’s a pity Iga didn’t play but she would probably have won very fast anyway
Would be a ginormous shock if she lost to Gauff..
Gauff can beat Iga. It’s a matter of Gauff executing her best tennis when facing Iga. I don’t want to talk about Iga, and I was hoping to see her get another match without her playing nervous tennis.
My foot is slow to heal. But thanks for thinking of it. The heel is fine, but the bottom of my foot… never mind. I will say, I am tired of wearing the boot!! Thanks.
Am glad Muchova won although I like Pavs. Is it too much to hope she beats You Know Who? Probably but am still hoping.
Apparently the allegations against Sabalenka are true. She did sign the letter supporting Lukashenko when he was murdering her compatriots. Among other things.
I used to quite like her but now I can’t bear even looking at her.
I was watching WTA to get away from the absence of Rafa and also because I like a lot of the female players.Now that’s ruined because of her.
PS suddenly she is saying she is different. Very convenient just before wimby. I don’t believe a word she says.She is deeply manipulative and cynical.
In what way has she changed? When she beat Elina Svitolina, the toxic one went to the net and leaned to look straight at Elina. Maybe she thought something could change by doing that. Elina went straight to the chair to shake the umpire’s hand and then to her bench. Not even a look at her.
I hoped Sabs would focus on doubles with Timea Babos.
I never liked watching her because of her grunting, but she was sometimes pretty comical. She makes funny faces, groans, and eye-rolling.
Supporting Lukashenko is supporting Putin and Putin’s war. I would prefer not to see her at Wimbledon or any GS, not the Olympics. I see her, and I think about the horrific losses in Ukraine.
Well I was extremely angry about her rotten manipulative behaviour. She made Elina into a target for the cynical pathetic Paris crowd.
It’s sickening to compare this with lovely Dasha who made straight for the side of the court so as not to expose Elina and the crowd booed Dasha! I know Dasha was very upset afterwards as was Elina and Elina said Saba did it deliberately. Of course she did!
Her behaviour makes me furious. She is a spoilt selfish good time girl.
Wimby is the opposite of RG. The crowd is very polite. Also GB is the country outside Eastern Europe with the highest public support for Ukraine. I am kind of hoping the crowd turns on Saba.
If I were to go I would boo her and shout insults believe me. Unfortunately not many people follow politics as I do so they don’t know about her supporting Lukashenko.
Have been thinking about trying to do something. Not sure what.
Many people in this part of the country think we don’t have any business aiding Ukraine. I strongly disagree!
I don’t know what I could do. I have the skills to care for the sick and wounded. But I don’t know a word of their language. I don’t have the money to get myself there. but I do have a little money to donate. My neighbor is my only family and needs to stay here because Idaho has the best, if not the best, one of the best Veterans Administration hospitals in the country. He is a Veteran with PTSD. Strange as it is, I cannot leave him.
One of the reasons there is so much support here for arming Ukraine is because that is the position of all the political parties: Labour, the Conservatives, the Liberals and the Scottish National Party all strongly support giving arms.
As for your country, you are giving less than 1% of the military budget. It’s peanuts really.
And since you know more about this country than I do in some ways (I don’t doubt you) are we closing the sky? Both parties agreed: we can’t do that. It would mean starting WW3. I know we spend a ton of money and weapons on Ukraine. There is Bipartisan support for helping Ukraine in Washington, D.C. How much more do you think this place America should be spending?
Of course, Donald Trump has announced he is running for President in 2024. The grifter has to be taken seriously. Putin still has to have a lot of blackmail fodder on his loyal Republicans. Trump will do whatever Vlad says.
We have a bigger problem on the non-tennis forum and his name is Wog Boy. He is a Pro-Putin and loyal USSR kind of guy. I will not speak to him.
Elizabeth, I have problems expressing myself because I am not very well! Did try and say that before. Have extreme fatigue and feel dizzy.
Not sure I should talk about serious subjects right now…I am not conveying my meaning because I am really honestly consumed by brain fog..😀
PS no we can’t close the sky! Would be utter madness. I will say that. But we could and should have given them the advanced air defence systems they need right from the beginning. If we had, thousands of lives would have been saved.
I am sorry. If we were face to face, I don’t doubt we would get along well and have much in common. I care about you, Amy. Take care of yourself. It is very late where you are. 😙
Elizabeth, here is the page. Put Rybakina into your browser and the page will appear…
Why on earth did Ons lost to Haddad Mia?? She is a far better player. Nerves??
Ons was playing great all week and today, It was almost like she didn’t care. I was begging her to win!
Rybakina and Ons… maybe Krejcikova if Barboa can find her best level. Maybe Kvitova can somehow get another Wimby.
Thanks again, amy.
🤭🤭You must have seen that I went to the WTA page.
Iga is a strange mixture of playing good and making nervous errors.
Is that what She is doing again? I am not watching because I thought she would play that way again.
Ons played strangely, She was doing great to start, but she eventually lost. But she seemed too relaxed about it. Maybe Gauff comes through and gets a win over nervous Iga,
Iga won! But not impressive.
On another note, Evert was ridiculous as a commentator. Said all the other players would be ” quaking in their boots” if they had to play Gauff!!!! Y would that be given her record this year and not winning a set at the wtf and her lousy fh?! So biased because she is American.
I like Evert. She is mellow compared to the usual commies, Davenport, especially.
Martina Navratilova is dear to me.
She was not always like that. It has to be too much, this defense of her titles and retaining #1.
I am certain as I can be she will get to the final. Once there, it may very well be like the USO when she was nervous in the preceding rounds but deadly in the final. Think there is a good chance that happens again.
Do you give Muchova any chance?
I like her and her game and I remember her playing Rybakina very close in either IW or Miami I think it was. If she can play Elena close when she was on fire then surely she has a chance?
There is not a Czech WTA player I have not liked. Muchova is 26 and has had bad luck with injuries. It’s good to see her playing at this level. But I have never had any feeling about her winning a GS — probably because of her injuries. She looks healthy now, I think.
I remember getting excited about her years ago, but even though she is doing well, 19/7 W/L in 2023, so far. It’s unrealistic to think she will get as much as a set. I hope I am wrong.
The toxic one is going tough to beat. It will make a difference in how much energy I put into WTA when she is #1 🤮
BTW, Ons said post match that because of her injury she hadn’t been able to train to get to the right physical level. So that is probably why she lost. Hopefully she will be good for wimby.
She is a great fave with the wimby crowd.
Needless to say she was immensely generous and classy in defeat.
Hope she wins a,slam this year. She has the talent.
Well done Iga! Hopefully the nervous points will go now..
I missed the last few games! Came back and found Iga won quickly.
From the parts of the match I saw I thought she was very ordinary by her standards. That’s good enough to fairly easily beat Gauff but she needs to step it up.
I was counting on Ons Jabeur to come through and beat Iga. I thought Ons could go to the Final with her skillz and win this thing over Sabs.
Oh, you meant she did beat Gauff. How many times will she get to beat Gauff before the young lady finally wins over Iga? She has everything to do it.
I have to rewind and watch the match to see what you did.
You know who will be officially #1 if Sabs wins in the final. Officially Sabalenka is not #1, but commies have been saying she is since she won AO. The Sabs makes me sick.
I have not been watching this SF because I can’t stand the toxic one.
But I had a peek at the score and saw Muchova won the first set, TB! Terrific, from Karolina Muchova!
They are in the second set, and Karolina has been keeping up. She does have an off-speed slice backhand and forehand. It’s got Sabs disturbed. Sabs can’t own this opponent. Karolina is serving, and she looks relaxed. She hits an ace up the middle. Beautiful serving from Karolina, and they are on serve in the second set.
#$%^! Sabs breaks Muchova. Sabs is making a fuss with her grunts. Muchova is unimpressed and breaks back 4-4.
Lindsey Davenport is loving Muchova’s skills. Maybe I can like Davenport a little. Muchova holds serve, again easily, and the score is 5-4 Karolina Muchobva. Muchova is a breath of fresh air with her variety. Dang it, Sabs holds serve, and it’s 5-5.
The French crowd is applauding Karolina Muchova ;D Muchova has 25 winners, Lindsey reports. Nuchova holds at 6-5.
Sabs holds—second set TB.
I can’t take Sab’s weird, loud whiney grunts. That is enough of her. 🤮
I did think Muchova might do well. I remember watching her match against Rybakina at IW and she played really well and really gave Elena a lot of problems. Elena was playing very well then and won the tournament.
I wasn’t going to watch this match because I can’t stand watching Saba. But saw score and had a look and had misfortune to watch tb. Guess she is going to win now.
Had to mute Simon whatshisname and Chrissie. Chrissie went on and on about Saba and the press conference seeking to make Saba into an innocent victim and wonderful person while completely omitting the fact that she has numerous documented links to Lukashenko and that is why there are questions. No one else among the major Russian and Belarusian players is getting these questions. There is a reason fur that.
Nauseating listening. She might as well have been Saba ‘s PR spokeswoman.
That is disappointing from Chris Evert. I wouldn’t like to hear BS like that from her. I would mute her!
I am so happy right now, and it’s all for Karolina Muchova. Haddad Maia, I think, has a good shot at Iga. Iga is killing me this entire spring. I’m a big fan, but I want her to move forward playing confident tennis. The pressure is too great for her to hold onto #1 for over a year and be pressured to defend her incredible 2022 wins.
About this match, I have become accustomed to Iga losing or nearly losing the first set. Woz is commenting, and she leans a bit pro-Iga.
How are you feeling, Amy?
Karolina!!!!😀
Wow. Just wow.! What a great day!
So if Iga wins today she stays #1. Come on Iga!
Lot of similarities between Barbora and Karolina with their variety and skillz.
I am still very disappointed that Barbora who is one of my top faves played so badly. But very happy for Karolina. Wonder what she has left for the final…
Hope Barbora regains form soon.
I have had great hopes for Muchova in years past. It’s tough to know how much she has been weakened by a list of injuries I don’t remember. It became a Where’s Muchova Again thing. Vonrousova is a bit the same.
It’s true that if a favorite Czech is missing from a draw, another one can fill the spot. Hopefully, Barbora and Petra have an excellent grass season next! I’m ready for grass.
That is the pressure. I think Iga has to win this SF. Dang it. Beatriz is a big woman! 6’1
Actually, I don’t want Iga to lose! What was I saying? Both of them must be aware that sabs is out.
Where are you Elizabeth!!? This is a fantastic result…
I’m here, amy!
I wouldn’t say I liked watching when it looked like the Belorussian was winning. I made some toast had my coffee, and checked Flashscore. Karolina did it! I love her for fighting. We shall see how Iga plays Haddad Maia, but Karolina would make a great Champion at Roland Garros! 😀
Congratulations, Karolina Muchova! 🤩
Time to attend to my broken foot, amy.
Iga wins!! But my God she was doing my head in in the second set. Her fh deserted her for long periods of time. Struggled with her serve.
Still she won!😀
Anyway Elizabeth we can celebrate now! Iga won and Saba is out and we have a player we both like Karolina in the final.
Could be a great match if Karolina brings her skillz. Hope so.
That is true. We both like Karolina Muchova 😀
I will celebrate with you if Karolina wins FO. How happy
it would be for Karolina Muchova to win the GS title in Paris!
At the last minute, I realized that I wanted Iga to win her match against Haddad Maia. This was because if she didn’t make it to the final, she would lose her #1 ranking to Sadz.
Iga will retain her #1 ranking whether she wins or loses the final now. It is not that Iga needs another FO. Keeping #1 out of reach of Sabz is the point. I know she will get it sooner or later or maybe Rybakina or Ons could get it before her. 😀
Karolina has just put out a post saying her clay court idol is the same one as she adored back in 2008 and that is, of course, Rafa!!!!😀😀
So 2 Rafa fanatics will play in the final! That is some balm to we miserable Rafans!!
That’s great, Amy—two Rafa fans on Rafa’s court.
I watched the last set of Muchova/sadz to see how Karolina did it. Sabz contributed to Karolina’s win. In the end, Sabz was her old self, the one before AO. Karolina hung in there and was terrific. So proud of her! Karolina will have sore muscles in her legs. I didn’t realize she was hurting from the effort. The best of 3 in a GS can be hard and challenging. The best of 5 is what I think women can do if they train for it, but I don’t think the powers that be will ever allow that format for WTA GS.
Iga will be ready physically and in every way because she routinely makes it to the QF, SF, and Final of these big 1000 and GS tournaments. And she trains like her idol, Rafa! Iga’s head was full of Sabz all these weeks, and what a relief to have a different opponent!
I love Iga’s footwork on clay; it’s incredible. She is speedy and anticipates so well! Jazda Iga! 😀
This SF with Haddad Maia was not fun to watch live, but the replay is excellent, listening to Martina Navratilova and Wozzie commentating. The one thing Martina emphasized is the need for Iga to work on her serve.
What is it with Iga catching the ball repeatedly on her ball toss? It wasn’t windy. It was making me very nervous.
Generally I thought she played better on return because she seemed unhappy on serve and was missing a lot of first serves. Karolina served much better and got a lot more free points. Her serve doesn’t seem to be as effective as last year.
“some balm to we miserable Rafans!!”
Heh heh…sooo true amy!..urgh!..i want both of them to win!..i don’t want/like iga to lose..but at the same time want 1st timer Muchova to win too!..help!..cane ni??
I feel the same mira! I want Iga to win but I also want Karolina to win! Iga will win loads more slams while Karolina may never win another.
Tough choice…
Still either way we can cheer the winner..so that is a massive plus.
Rafa has to rest for 5 months after his op. We will be thinking of him and dreaming of RG#15
Just catching up with all this after a busy week.
I really think Djokovic will use his experience and sheer mental strength to get the win. Him for the title .And Muchova to upset Iga would be interesting.
Well played Muchova, held her nerve, Sabs lost hers.
Should be a great final.
Hoping for a great match today…
By which I hope Muchova brings it today. I think she will.
It’s her first slam final so one never knows…
I can’t load this thread beyond this point.
Can anyone else load it?