How can Raducanu stun the ‘Queen of Clay’?

French Open 2025 match between Raducanu and Swiatek.

Location: Roland Garros, Court Philippe Chatrier, May 29

When the draw was made last week, everyone was hoping Emma Raducanu would face four-time champion Iga Swiatek in the French Open second round.

Even Raducanu from Great Britain acknowledged she couldn’t avoid the potential pitfalls.

Wang Xinyu defeated the 22-year-old on Monday, but victory over Swiatek, who is known as the “Queen of Clay,” in Paris is one of the most difficult decisions in the women’s game. The 22-year-old showed physical and mental resilience.

Former British number one Annabel Croft, who will be covering the game for BBC Radio 5 Live, said, “It’s a tall mountain to climb.”

Because Swiatek has suffered a lot of losses this year, it’s not a foregone conclusion.

Swiatek has a formidable track record on the Paris clay since winning her first French Open title as a teenager in 2020.

The statistics show that she is the best at four of her previous five competitions:

However, the 23-year-old’s reign is now more in jeopardy.

Swiatek hasn’t made a final decision since winning the title in Paris last year, and her clay-court swing was below-par by her standards.

Before the tournament, former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash addressed BBC Radio 5 Live, “She has a real problem with her forehand down the line, and players know that.”

Because of her quickness and ability to keep players out of their positions, she might be able to get away with it on clay.

It’s a real liability on other surfaces, and it’s now a problem on clay, they say.

Her backhand has become a more and more effective weapon than her other main natural strengths in Raducanu’s game.

“Her forehand has become one of her game’s best aspects,” Croft said.

The cross-court forehand has height, travels, and makes her dangerous when she is on the run with it, which is what I really like.

Prior to now having a positive few months, Raducanu had little fun playing Swiatek against him. He has since climbed up to 41st in the rankings.

The 2021 US Open champion has lost all four of their previous encounters, including two on clay in Stuttgart and two on hard courts in Indian Wells and the Australian Open this year.

The 6-1, 6 0 0 defeat in Melbourne was particularly troubling because Raducanu found Swiatek’s groundstrokes to be too powerful and precise.

Raducanu told BBC Sport, “She always plays really well and gets really fired up when she plays me. I don’t know why that’s the case, but she’s always done it.”

Although I’m not sure if it’s because of me, every time we’ve played, she has been excellent.

Although Raducanu has improved in the four months since their last meeting, Coco Gauff, the world’s top female athlete, showed how far she still needs to close.

You can tell where Raducanu’s game is headed when you play against a top-notch opponent who won’t go away psychologically, Croft said.

She is aware that she must confront Swiatek in an offensive manner. She won’t be able to escape by moving the ball around.

She will need to get the first strike in, and she will also need to get depth, or angle, to try to control the angle.

Prior to her career, Raducanu was criticized for allegedly not being tough enough to survive matches when she wasn’t feeling completely recovered.

This season, she has made encouraging fitness improvements and gained more confidence in herself.

Raducanu has a more solid foundation from which to base her decision-settings, as she did successfully against Wang.

I’ve won three-set matches a lot more frequently than I’ve previously, which gives me more confidence, said Raducanu.

Before her first-round game, Raducanu awoke feeling “sick,” and Swiatek will find any signs that she may not be feeling well on Wednesday.

However, she gave a consoling update during her post-game press conference.

I feel better,” he said. I had a good meal, “added the former world number 10”.

“I believe it was perhaps just an earlier wake-up call for me,” he continued. My body might be lagging a little bit, perhaps.