Tracy Austin doesn’t believe Iga Swiatek will defend Roland Garros after she looked ‘all out of sorts’ against Coco Gauff in Madrid

Before the 2025 season, Iga Swiatek always entered the French Open as the favorite to win. But this year has so far been a far cry from the previous seasons.

Last year, the Pole lifted five titles, one of which was her third consecutive and fourth overall Grand Slam title. Apart from the French Open, she also lifted the Madrid Open and the Italian Open. But since that French Open victory, Swiatek failed to add another title to her trophy cabinet.

So far in the season, Swiatek reached the quarterfinals of every tournament but has been unsuccessful in reaching the final since last year’s French Open. In August last year, Swiatek failed the drug test because of the contaminated melatonin medication she had been consuming.

She was later handed a one-month ban by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), causing widespread backlash. Because of the one-month suspension, she lost her No.1 rankings to Aryna Sabalenka, who during that time won several hard-court titles, including the US Open.

Because of her unsuccessful campaigns, the rankings gap between the two players only increased. Amidst her trophy-less season, former World No.1 Tracy Austin said she wouldn’t be backing Swiatek to win the French Open.

For Iga, that one-month suspension at the end of last year, her grandfather passed away a week or so ago, she looked all out of sorts against Coco [Gauff]. She has not been to a final since Roland Garros last year.

Tracy Austin told Tennis Channel Live Podcast

Recently, Swiatek was denied a chance to defend her Madrid Open title by Gauff, who registered her fourth victory over her in the semifinals, which was also their 15th tour-level encounter. Even though the opponent was Gauff, the scoreline of 6-1, 6-1 on a clay-court event was surprising.

Iga Swiatek congratulates Casper Ruud after he wins the Madrid Open

While Iga Swiatek failed to take home the Madrid Open title for the second consecutive time, Casper Ruud became champion in a Masters 1000 event for the first time when he defeated Jack Draper in the Madrid Open final. With this win, Ruud became the first Norwegian man to take home a Masters 1000 title.

It was also his first title after playing six finals of tournaments above the 500 category. Before the Madrid Open, the 26-year-old lost three Grand Slam finals, two Masters 1000 finals, and an ATP Finals. Following his win, Iga Swiatek took to Instagram to share a congratulatory message for the World No.7.

So so cool. Congrats @casperruud.

Iga Swiatek wrote on Instagram story

Check out her post here:

Ruud had also expressed his hope to see Swiatek regain her form after she was seen crying during her semifinal match against Coco Gauff. The five-time Grand Slam champion, after losing the first set and three consecutive games of the second set, covered her head with a towel and cried uncontrollably.

Brad Gilbert doesn’t want Iga Swiatek to skip Wimbledon

Some reports published by the Polish media stated that Iga Swiatek could skip the grass season after the French Open. Coco Gauff’s former coach Brad Gilbert, however, doesn’t want the World No.2 to skip the grass-court Major.

Not a fan of skipping wimbledon if healthy.

Brad Gilbert wrote on X

Check out his post here:

not a fan of skipping wimbledon if healthy

— Brad Gilbert (@bgtennisnation) May 3, 2025

Swiatek last year, only played at Wimbledon on the grass swing. She lost in the third round to Yulia Putintseva in three sets. The 23-year-old is the winner of 22 singles titles but is yet to clinch a grass-court title. At Wimbledon, she produced her best when she progressed to the quarterfinals in 2023, losing the match to Elina Svitolina.

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