By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Monday May 5, 2025
Iga Swiatek fell to Coco Gauff in lopsided fashion in Madrid, but Rome could be her shot at redemption ahead of Roland-Garros.
Will Iga Swiatek rediscover her winning ways in Rome? The three-time champion will bid for her first title of 2025 over the next two weeks, and her draw is challenging – but manageable.
It’s all up to the four-time Roland-Garros winner, one would think. If she can summon the unplayable form that has guided her through the last four clay seasons, we should expect her to be participating in the business end of the draw.
See the full draw here:
If not, then it might truly be time to hit the panic button ahead of Roland-Garros. Swiatek is 87-10 on clay since the start of 2020, but only 5-2 on the surface this year, with a loss to Jelena Ostapenko in Stuttgart and a crushing defeat at the hands of Coco Gauff in the Madrid semifinal. For most players that would be a good start to the season, but for Swiatek, who has won multiple titles on clay in each of the last three seasons (eight overall since the start of 2022), it's alarming.
Here’s how Swiatek’s path to the final looks, if the seeds hold:
R2, after bye: Elina Avanesyan or Elisabetta Cociaretto
R3: [29] Danielle Collins
Round of 16: [16] Elina Svitolina or [19] Liudmila Samsonova
QF: [5] Madison Keys
SF: [3] Jessica Pegula or [5] Jasmine Paolini
Swiatek is 20-2 lifetime at Roma, and defeated Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s final, 6-2, 6-3.
Sabalenka Streaks into Rome
In the top half of the draw, Aryna Sabalenka will bid to stretch her winning streak after claiming her third Madrid title on Saturday.
She will face either Dayana Yastremska or Anastasia Potapova in the second round after a bye.
Here’s the rest of Sabalenka’s path to the final if the seeds hold.
R3: [31] Kenin
Round of 16: [14] Kasatkina or [24] Fernandez
QF: [8] Zheng or [11] Rybakina
SF: [4] Gauff or [7] Andreeva
It’s a trickier half for Sabalenka, with former champion Rybakina, Gauff and Andreeva all lurking.
Main draw action kicks off on Tuesday at the Foro Italico. Here are some of the entertaining early round tussles we’re excited about:
Round 1:
Sara Errani vs Naomi Osaka, winner faces Paula Badosa
Dayana Yastremska vs Anastasia Potapova, winner faces Sabalenka
Alexandra Eala vs Marta Kostyuk, winner faces Kasatkina
Bianca Andreescu vs Federica Urgesi, winner faces Vekic
Victoria Azarenka vs Camila Osorio, winner faces Frech
Moyuka Uchijuma vs Eva Lys, winner faces Rybakina
Round 2, after byes:
Emma Navarro faces winner of Marketa Vondrousova and Wang Xinyu
Ons Jabeur faces winner of Petra Kvitova vs Irina Camelia Begu
Jelena Ostapenko faces winner of Rebecca Sramkova and McCartney Kessler
Diana Shnaider faces winner of Caroline Dolehide vs Sorana Cirstea