Why Iga Swiatek needs a great rival like Federer-Nadal, Chris Evert-Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf-Monica Seles
Iga Swiatek, who won her fourth French Open title and third in a row on Saturday, June 8, is on a rampage on clay. By thrashing Jasmine Paolini in the 2024 French Open final, she achieved the rare clay "treble" - winning all three big tournaments on the surface in the year. This is also her fourth title at the Paris Major in the past five editions of the tournament.
Swiatek now leads her nearest rival, World No. 2 Coco Gauff, by more than 3,500 points in the WTA rankings. Aryna Sabalenka, who was No. 2 since the start of the year, dropped one position by getting knocked out in the quarterfinals at Roland Garros.
While all of this might be great for the Pole, it is perhaps not so for the WTA tour overall.
Iga Swiatek enjoys a superior head-to-head against most of her prominent rivals
Every sport needs proper rivalries to keep the spectators captivated and interested. Arch-rivals force each other to improve on various aspects by constantly challenging them.
However, such is not the case in women's tennis on clay at the moment. Swiatek leads the head-to-head with Sabalenka 8-3, and has won 11 of her 12 clashes with Gauff. Elena Rybakina is the only prominent rival of the Pole who leads her (4-2) in the head-to-head.
In the last two years the pair have met on five occasions, with Rybakina winning four and losing one. One of those losses for Swiatek came via retirement as she was injured.
They have met only twice in the last 12 months, splitting their head-to-head 1-1. Even if Rybakina has the game to unsettle the World No. 1, their encounters are too few and far between to hold the attention of fans worldwide.
The Pole also leads Naomi Osaka 2-1 in their head-to-head. The duo might meet each other more frequently in the future, especially after the thriller they played at the French Open this year.
After losing the opening set, the four-time Grand Slam champion pushed Swiatek to her limits. The World No. 1 even saved a match point before securing victory from the jaws of defeat.
Quite surprisingly though, Jelena Ostapenko has beaten Swiatek in each of their four matches so far. That seems to be a statistical anomaly, and they have not faced each other on clay so far.
The history of tennis is full of great rivalries
If one takes a look at the history of tennis, rivals have kept emerging against top players to make the sport more interesting. Roger Federer, who amassed 12 Grand Slam titles during the period between 2003 and 2007, found it difficult to continue his run with the rise of Rafael Nadal.
The Spaniard had the upper hand on Federer right from the beginning of his career, especially on clay. It was not until the latter part of the Swiss maestro's career that he started to win more frequently against Nadal. Nadal leads Federer 24-16 in their head-to-head.
The duo were also joined by Novak Djokovic at the peak of their powers, making for a fearsome trio that became a household name for two decades. Djokovic has gone on record multiple times stating that the presence of Federer and Nadal helped forge him into a better player than he could have become otherwise.
Before the 'Big-3,' men's tennis was lucky to have the rivalries of Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe, Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras, Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe, and more.
The same has been true for women's tennis as well. Chris Evert enjoyed a fantastic rivalry with Martina Navratilova, with the former dominating on clay and the latter enjoying the upper hand on grass. Navratilova ended her career with a 43-37 lead over Evert, but the two frequently stopped each other from winning titles. Their rivalry is widely considered the most absorbing one in the history of women's tennis.
Then, we have the classic rivalry between Steffi Graf and Monica Seles, that could not reach its potential because of the latter being stabbed in 1993 by a Graf fan. Prior to that, Seles had played a big part in halting Graf's dominance.
Just as in the case of Navratilova and Evert, Graf was the superior player on grass, but Seles was better on clay. Graf led their head-to-head 10-5, but importantly, Seles beat the German twice in the French Open final.
Apart from that, there were the rivalries between Serena Williams and her sister Venus WIlliams, between Serena Williams and Justine Henin, and many more.
All of those rivalries helped the sport of tennis, giving fans an option to root for. Just as players become better thanks to their rivalries, the sport becomes better with the personal investment that fans bring to the table. Rivals split fanbases into two, which leads to more discussion and debate, which in turns helps spread the word of mouth about the sport.
Iga Swiatek's rivals need to compete with her for the health of women's tennis
Aryna Sabalenka seems to have the tools to consistently take the fight to Iga Swiatek. However, she is not often at her best playing on clay, and has not been able to do much to stop Swiatek's juggernaut on the surface.
Coco Gauff, on the other hand, seems to have a mental barrier while facing the Pole. Moreover, the obvious forehand weakness in her game has made it difficult for her to keep up with Swiatek's groundstrokes.
Rybakina is consistent but has not played Swiatek often enough. Osaka is a dangerous player when in form, but hasn't played much on the tour over the last few years.
Swiatek has won five Grand Slams at the age of 23, while none of her contemporaries have managed more than two so far. Osaka has won four Majors, but is three years older than the Pole and has had some issues to address, although she looks to be on up once again.
In such a scenario, the Pole could well dominate the tour - especially on clay - for the next few years. Social media is often loaded with opinions that the World No. 1 has made the game "boring" just by being too dominant. While that is not likely to stain her tennis legacy, it does affect the marketability of the sport.
Neutral or casual fans are not likely to tune in to watch a Grand Slam final knowing that it is likely to end in a one-hour decimation. Swiatek fans will enjoy it, hardcore fans will admire it, but many might be turned off by the idea.
This issue, however, is not Swiatek's to fix. The 23-year-old can only be admired for being the best player she can be, and that is all she has to do. But even she might get bored in the near future if a new challenge does not rise up to keep her on her toes. For her sake, and for the sake of women's tennis as a whole, a rival has to come out of the woods, and quickly.