|
After replacing Ash Barty at the top of the world rankings
following the Australian's shock retirement in March, Swiatek
has seemingly revelled in her status as the top women's player.
The 20-year-old Pole won her maiden Grand Slam title on Roland
Garros's red clay in 2020 and has arrived in Paris having won
five consecutive titles, including four WTA 1000 events, and 28
straight matches.
"You can't be any hotter than she is right now," 18-times Grand
Slam winner Navratilova told the WTA. "She's playing great and
she's healthy – that's a fantastic combination. She's fresh and
battle-tough at the same time.
"She looks pretty unbeatable on any surface, particularly the
clay now. So we have an overwhelming favourite going into the
French, when it was wide open last year.
"Clearly, the pressure is not bothering her. She's just
embracing that. It's great to see – when you are the favourite,
and you keep on winning."
Australian Sam Stosur, who won the U.S. Open in 2011 and reached
the final at Roland Garros the previous year, said Swiatek's
confidence was sky-high and she was currently the strongest in
the world mentally.
"If you're winning back-to-back titles, you're feeling
incredible, that confidence grows," Stosur told the Australian
Open website.
"It doesn't matter what's going on, you're going to step out
onto that court and think that you're going to win every single
match. And I think that (feeling) is just building and building
and building.
"Any small weakness, or any small bit of doubt, is getting
erased every time she steps on court with another win. I think
it's pretty hard to go past someone who's been so dominant for
the last couple of months on tour ... and winning a lot of these
matches relatively comfortably."
(Reporting by Sudipto Ganguly in Mumbai; editing by Toby Davis)
[© 2022 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |
|
