WTA Rome Review, Roland Garros pre-tournament overview: Big Favourites, Big Challenges

(I said Svitolina beat four Top 20 players on route to the Rome title - this is wrong. She beat three Top 5 opponents, but the next higher ranking she beat was World no.25 Hailey Baptiste.)

Elina Svitolina wins her first WTA 1000 since Rome 2018. Her third crown in the Italian capital, with hard-fought, well-earned wins over Elena Rybakina, Iga Swiatek, and Coco Gauff. What a tournament by the Ukrainian, who sits now as the WTA Race World No.3, and No.7 in the 52-week rankings.

Will that be enough to earn her a first grand slam title at Roland Garros, starting next week??

Time will tell - but, I think that would be really difficult. Not so much because Svitolina is not a great player, in fact, she's probably the best version of herself on a tennis court in her career.

But the WTA is full of surprises, and the level is insanely high across the board. The Top 5 is playing amazing tennis, with Aryna Sabalenka being as consistent a World No.1 can be, reaching SF and Finals at almost every tournament she plays, only without the major title to show for it in 2026. Which in turn could make her even more dangerous an motivated to win her first Roland Garros trophy.

Elena Rybakina the WTA Race World No.1, World No.2 in the 52-week rankings, and Australian Open champion, would be looking to transform her Race ranking into her real ranking, climbing to World No.1 for the first time in her career with a deep run in Paris - a title would all but guarantee it. And then, who knows: a Calendar Grand Slam in the making?

Gauff, the defending champion at Roland Garros, lost to Svitolina in the Rome final in a tough three-setter. Doesn't matter how Gauff plays, it seems it's always impossible to beat her without massive effort. There are no true bad days for the American. She's coming for that title again, no matter who stands in her way - even if it's her own self.

Finally, Iga Swiatek. The four-time Roland Garros champion started the year without playing well at all. All seemed completely out of control, with her game spiraling and losses stacking up. Until Francisco Roig joined her team as her new coach, and a couple days with Rafa Nadal himself, seemingly changed the course of her year overnight. Now playing a much more confident tennis, with her strengths emphasized and game plans set on more that just hit the ball very hard, Swiatek made us all look at her again as one of the top favourites. But you can't just erase months of struggle like that, and her loss to Svitolina in Rome showed that, despite the great progress over this clay season, Swiatek might still have some internal issues to work out before fully returning to her very best. Will it happen at Roland Garros 2026?

We will have to wait and see how all this unfolds.

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