Iga Swiatek described as ‘Chris Evert-like’ by tennis great as Pole guns for rare clay treble

Iga Swiatek is seven match wins away from becoming only the second player in WTA Tour era history to win the Madrid-Rome-Roland Garros hat-trick and Martina Navratilova has likened her to fellow legend Chris Evert.

Ahead of her French Open title defence, Swiatek is riding a crest of wave as she has won back-to-back trophies at the Madrid Open and Italian Open, defeating world No 2 Aryna Sabalenka in both finals.

The four-time Grand Slam winner has become only the third player after Dinara Safina (2009) and Serena Williams (2013) to win consecutive WTA 1000 events in the Spanish and Italian capitals since the formats were introduced in 2009.

Williams went on to complete the Triple Crown as she won the title at Roland Garros and Swiatek will look to follow in the American’s footsteps in Paris in June.

Steffi Graf (1987) and Monica Seles (1990) also achieved the feat when the now-defunct German Open was on the calendar as a Tier 1 event.

READ MORE: 5 amazing Iga Swiatek stats as she dominates Aryna Sabalenka with Italian Open masterclass

Swiatek took her WTA title tally to 21 with her Italian win with 10 of those coming on clay. The 22-year-old is producing Evert-like numbers and performances on the surface.

Evert is considered the greatest women’s clay court player of all time as she won 70 titles on the red dirt with seven of them coming at Roland Garros.

Her great rival Navratilova sees similarities in Swiatek.

“She’s been Chris Evert-like. That topspin drives you nuts, and I think she moves as good as anybody,” she told the official WTA website. “Clay, she’s got that down to perfection, the sliding and the movement and recovery.

“Just wears you out from the baseline, playing aggressive. She’s got the consistency and the major wins. That’s why she’s been No 1 for so long. Paris is the perfect venue for her game.”

Swiatek, who is 28–2 at Roland Garros since making her debut in 2019, is looking to win a fourth title in Paris and although her confidence is high, she is keeping her feet on the ground.

“Obviously I am confident. I feel like I’m playing great tennis. But it doesn’t change the fact that I really want to stay humble and really focused on getting everything step by step. Grand Slams are different. There is different pressure on the court and off the court,” she said.

“For sure, I love to come to Paris again and be there. It’s a great place for me to be. I really enjoy my time there anyway.

“These are hard seven matches that you need to win, so I don’t take anything for granted. I’ll just work hard as I did in Madrid and Rome and we’ll see.”

READ MORE: The 5 players who have won the Madrid-Rome ‘Dirtball Double’ as Iga Swiatek achieves rare feat