Former world No. 1 Dinara Safina is making a very bold prediction for the 2025 season as the Russian tennis legend doesn't think Iga Swiatek will win the French Open.
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As you probably know well, the Pole has been an absolute menace on the clay courts of Roland Garros, winning the last three French Open editions. Since the 23-year-old also became a Grand Slam champion at the 2020 French Open, that brings her total to four titles at the Parisian Slam. Overall, Swiatek has a 35-2 record at the French Open.
Ahead of the 2025 season, former three-time Grand Slam finalist Safina spoke to Russian publication Championat. And when asked to pick the winners for next year's Majors, she tipped Karolina Muchova to end the Pole's reign at Roland Garros.
"Australia Sinner and Sabalenka. Roland Garros Zverev and, let it be, Muchova. I dont think witek will win the Grand Slam on clay next year. Wimbledon Alcaraz or Medvedev for men, Rybakina for girls. US Open Medvedev or Rublev for men, Sabalenka again for girls," Safina told Championat.
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In her first French Open final, the Polish tennis star dominated Sofia Kenin 6-4 6-1 before also crushing Coco Gauff 6-1 6-3 two years later. In 2023, she was the closest to losing a final in Paris as Muchova was up by a break late in the third set before the world No. 2 stormed back to win 6-2 5-7 6-4. This year, she annihilated Jasmine Paolini 6-2 6-1 to complete a three-peat at Roland Garros.
Swiatek may have won the French Open this year but she did lose a match on the courts of Roland Garros for the first time since 2021 after Zheng Qinwen upset her in the Paris Olympics semifinal.
However, if the former world No. 1 is fully healthy and there no any unforeseen circumstances, there is no doubt that she will again be regarded as the top favorite to win it all in Paris again next year.
Safina praised Swiatek in this regard
Shortly after making her first Grand Slam final at the 2008 French Open, the Russian made two another Major finals in the next year and also reached the world No. 1 spot. But then, she started dealing with a major back issue - couldn't continue her rise - and her last matches came in 2011.
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Before an unfortunate injury forced her to basically end her career at 25, Safina competed against a group of players that is widely regarded as one of the best in the 21st century. Asked to share her take on the current state of the WTA Tour, the Russian mentioned Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka as the only players she views as consistent enough.
"In my time, there were more consistent players. There were Serena and Venus Williams, Davenport, Mauresmo, Henin, Sharapova, Clijsters and so on. Everyone was consistent all year round, they rarely had easy losses. The top 10 was very tight, you couldn't touch the girls. And now someone can fail three or four tournaments and then return to the top 10. Now there is Gauff, Pegula, but they are all unstable. Only Sabalenka and Swiatek played the whole season almost without slumps," Safina explained.
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What Swiatek said about the chances of her emulating Rafael Nadal's record?
The Pole registering four French Open titles by the age of 23 naturally led to some comparing her to Nadal and wondering if was possible for her to pull off the Spaniard's astonishing record of 14 titles. And considering how dominant she has been at Roland Garros so far, some of those comparisons are justified.
However, Swiatek has been refusing so far to get too much into those talks. Following her latest victory in Paris, she called Nadal "a total legend" and told reporters they would need to wait at least a couple of more years to see if replicating that feat was possible.
"We'll see in 14 years if the journey is similar. I mean, that's obviously really nice for me. I would never expect anybody to compare me to Rafa because for me he's above everybody, and he's a total legend. Yeah, as I said, we'll see in couple of years, but I'm proud of myself that I'm playing consistently here and that I'm mentioned in the same sentence as Rafa. That's cool, Swiatek said after her fourth French Open triumph.
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At this year's French Open, the closest to defeating the Pole was Naomi Osaka, who was 5-2 up in the third set and had a match point before the Pole created an epic comeback and sealed a 7-6 (1) 1-6 7-5 win.
