London (dpa)
Poland’s Iga Swiatek and Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz became the talk of the hour a few days before the start of the French Open.
Swiatek enters the second Grand Slam of the four grand slams of the current season, and she dominates the world rankings and is considered the first candidate to win the Roland Garros title, while Alcaraz is entering the French Championship two weeks after his nineteenth birthday celebration, while he achieved a huge leap in his career. men’s competitions.
The shocking retirement of Australian Ashleigh Barty came in favor of Swatic, who rose to the top of the world rankings, and the Polish, who will celebrate her twenty-first birthday during the French Championship, succeeded in winning five consecutive titles in Doha, Indian Wells, Miami, Stuttgart and Rome.
Swatik is seeking to win the Roland Garros title for the second time after winning the 2020 title.
“I feel like a different player now,” Swatik said. “Last year I felt like I was still trying to find some continuity in the wins.
She added, “I think I’ve achieved that and I think I can move forward and focus on my next goals. Certainly the tournaments I’ve played this year have shown my ability to play better on hard courts.”
She pointed out: “The move that I have to make on clay is completely different, but I feel that my level is high, and I hope to enjoy my performance as much as I did all season.”
For his part, Alkaraz’s most prominent achievement in the Grand Slam tournaments was reaching the quarter-finals of the US Open last year.
Alcaraz is considered the strongest competitor to the world number one Novak Djokovic and Spain’s Rafael Nadal for the Roland Garros title.
“My goal until the end of the year is to try to win one of the three remaining Grand Slams,” Alcaraz told the Spanish newspaper, Marca.
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