Defending champion Iga Swiatek, who is aiming for her fifth title, was handed a tough draw at the French Open on Thursday.
Struggling for form in recent weeks, Poland’s Swiatek will open her French Open title defense with a first-round match against Slovakia’s Rebecca Sramkova on Sunday.
The 23-year-old could face either former U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu or Wang Xinyu in the second round, while No. 26 seed Marta Kostyuk is her projected third-round opponent.
Swiatek’s potential fourth-round opponents include No. 12 seed Elena Rybakina, No. 21 seed Jelena Ostapenko — who owns a 6-0 record against Swiatek — and Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Belinda Bencic.
Swiatek is in the same quarter of the 2025 Roland Garros draw as Jasmine Paolini, who recently won her second WTA 1000 title in Rome, and the same half as World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, the three-time major champion.
Swiatek, who has won the French Open in 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024, heads into this year’s championship seeded No. 5 — her lowest at a major since the 2022 Australian Open.
The Pole was knocked out in the Round of 32 at the Italian Open by Danielle Collins, while she lost to Coco Gauff in the Madrid Open semi-finals and suffered defeat by Ostapenko in the Stuttgart Open quarter-finals. She has also not reached a final since winning the title in Paris last year.
“This season has had ups and downs, but I know my game is there,” Swiatek said after the draw, according to Reuters.
French Open Women’s Draw Highlights
Top seed Sabalenka, who is aiming for her first French Open title, will face Kamilla Rakhimova of Russia in the opening round. She is projected to face No. 8 seed Zheng Qinwen in the quarter-finals and Swiatek in the semi-finals.
Second seed Coco Gauff of the United States opens against Olivia Gadecki and is projected to face Australian Open champion and No. 7 seed Madison Keys in the quarterfinals. Should Gauff make it to the semi-finals, she could play in an all-American semi-final against third seed Jessica Pegula, the third seed.
Spanish 10th seed Paula Badosa and four-time major champion Naomi Osaka of Japan will face off in an exciting first-round clash at the French Open.
