Iga Swiatek overwhelming favourite but Coco Gauff has a chance to win French Open
Former French Open champion Mats Wilander believes it will be tough to beat Iga Swiatek but opined that a power player like Coco Gauff will have the best chance of ending the World No 1’s incredible sequence of victories.
Speaking before Gauff clinched her place in the final with a 6-3, 6-1 demolition of Martina Trevisan, Wilander opined that the American’s power gives her a chance of throwing Swiatek off her game.
Wilander said that Gauff would have to take her aggression up a level to put any pressure on the 20-year-old rankings queen.
“It’s kind of one of those matches where the top player goes in and plays her opponent for a little bit then realises, ‘oh okay, if I play at about a seven out of ten I will be even with this opponent and I’m playing at an eight or nine, even a ten in the morning practice and the day before’,” Wilander said in the Eurosport Studio.
“So it gives her room to relax, play her game and then there’s no match really.
“The only chance you have is to overpower her and I think that Coco Gauff has a chance to do that but even then you’d need a Coco Gauff to go for her shots more than she normally does. But Iga Swiatek is just a machine right now.”
Swiatek beat Daria Kasatkina 6-2 6-1 to book her place in the final.
Seven-time French Open winner Chris Evert agreed with Wilander’s assessment of the prospective Roland Garros final.
“She was all business out there, she was more focused than I have ever seen her,” Evert said. “She knows the importance and the danger of a semi-final.”
Evert believes that the player who breaks Swiatek’s streak will be one with a monster serve.
“The only player that is going to beat Swiatek is a player with a lot of firepower and a big serve,” Evert said.
“You project to the finals, if a Coco Gauff wins that is probably the only type of player and type of game that can only really overpower Iga.”
The French Open women’s singles final is scheduled to get underway shortly after 17:00 (GMT).
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