Iga Swiatek handed nightmarish French Open draw; lands in Aryna Sabalenka’s half | Tennis News

Defending champion Iga Swiatek, on Thursday, was handed a nightmarish draw at the French Open 2025, as she found reigning world no. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the same half. She also has former Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina, last year’s runner-up Jasmine Paolini and Jelena Ostapenko in the same quarter. 

The Pole, who has failed to reach a WTA final since winning the title in Paris last year, and is seeded No. 5 at the Roland Garros this year – the lowest at a Slam since the 2022 Australian Open – will open her campaign against Rebecca Sramkova, before setting up a probable second-round clash with former US Open champion Emma Raducanu. Swiatek’s projected third-round opponent is No. 12 seed Rybakina, and in the fourth round is No. 21 seed Jelena Ostapenko. Both own a 6-0 record against the former world No. 1. And her potential quarterfinal opponent could be No. 4 seed Paolini, who recently won the WTA 1000 in Rome.

Sabalenka, who found herself in the same half of the draw as Swiatek, was also handed a tricky draw. Staring her campaign against Kamilla Rakhimova, the Belarusian could face either the No. 27 seed Leylah Fernandez, Danielle Collins, or Olga Danilovic in the third round. She also has the No. 8 seed Zheng Qinwen, in the same quarter. The Chinese defeated Sabalenka in Rome last week.

Coco Gauff, the finalist in Madrid and Rome, has Australian Open champion and No. 7 seed Madison Keys in the same quarter, while No. 3 seed Jessica Pegula and No. 6 seed Mirra Andreeva head the third quarter.

The main draw of French Open 2025 will begin on May 25 in Paris.