Iga Swiatek Keeps Emma Raducanu In Her Pocket At French Open
"She gets really fired up when she plays me - I don't know why that is but she's always played really well," Emma Raducanu told BBC Sport before her second-round match against Iga Swiatek on Wednesday. The Briton knew what was coming. Swiatek won 6-1, 6-2 on Philippe-Chatrier as she made short work of Raducanu yet again to make it 23 matches unbeaten at the French Open.
The truth hurts in sport. Results speak louder than moments of hope. Apart from a big smile when entering Roland Garros's main arena, Raducanu's presence on court diminished and was almost deleted. She has troubled the Pole on other surfaces, but clay puts up a barrier the length of the English channel between the two players. In Melbourne, Raducanu won a solitary game. Here, she claimed three. If it's progress, then the baby steps are still in the birthing process.
There was a perfunctory handshake at the end of the demolition. Swiatek might not be at our absolute best in 2025, but she can dominate against a player who is still finding her feet back on the tennis circuit let alone clay. The Briton started with purpose in a competitive start to proceedings, but she was forced further and further back, rushed and rigid on what is essentially the defending champion's home patch.
Swiatek hasn't talked dismissively of Raducanu in previous encounters – the closest of which was a 7-6 6-3 win in Stuttgart last April – but this isn't a rivalry in any shape or form right here, right now. Raducanu has argued that while the likes of the five-time major winner and Coco Gauff began to compete at the top end of the game, she was still doing her A-Levels. That gap against the real elite is holding the 22-year-old back. Raducanu wants to throw punches. She's got to get closer on the scoreboard to do so.
The difference was clear to see once the feisty first games were out of the way. Raducanu is a Grand Slam champion. That is a fact. Her difficult second album syndrome is apparent when the game's greats are in town. The Pole played like she was never going to be troubled and said as much afterwards. 'I felt good, I felt I could do what I wanted to on the court,' Swiatek commented.
'I just needed to adjust to the conditions as the wind was tricky. I'm happy that I did that well and that I'm through. I just love playing here, this place inspires me to work harder."
Raducanu had taken two and three-quarter hours to get past Wang Xinyu in an almighty first-round tussle full of resilience. However, she had dropped her serve seven times in that encounter. The warning signs were there that the 2021 U.S. Open champion didn't have the tools to take it to the 'Queen of Clay'. Swiatek's heavy top spin neutered Raducanu's aggressive intentions. The Briton wasn't passive, but she was forced to bend and break because of her opponent's brilliant court coverage and defense.
It seems ridiculous to hark back to Swiatek's heyday, given that she is a five-time major winner at the age of 23. At her best, she steamrollered opponents during that 37-match unbeaten streak in 2022. Opponents were lucky to win half-a-dozen games such was her dominance at a time when Ash Barty had stepped down and the No. 1 ranking was there for the taking.
Three years later, the Pole is ranked fifth in the world and doesn't have the surety she possessed back then. Wimbledon grass isn't Swiatek's thing, so the extra focus she brought on court to Paris midweek resulted in a game face that didn't twitch.
Raducanu will be in the top 40 rankings by the next update. It's an improvement with real progress in Miami and Rome a sign of what might still happen in the future. For now, she can only focus on how to stay relevant rather than recapture the zeitgeist of New York.
The best players win multiple majors. Swiatek has real ambitions of being five-star Roland Garros royalty.
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