Iga Swiatek heads into the French Open trying to become the first player since Serena Williams at Wimbledon in 2016 to successfully defend a women’s Grand Slam singles title, with injuries and poor clay form clouding the hopes of several of her chief rivals.
Following her victory in Rome, culminating in a ruthless 46-minute takedown of Karolina Pliskova, Poland’s first Grand Slam singles champion returns to Roland Garros just seven months on with a far greater weight of expectation.