Paris Olympics 2024: Iga Swiatek's projected path to Gold Medal

Four-time French Open champion Iga Swiatek will go for gold at Roland Garros in the Paris Olympics.

Iga Swiatek returns to Roland Garros, now serving as the Olympic tennis venue for the 2024 Paris Games. Roland Garros is also home to the French Open and Swiatek’s favorite stomping ground. The Pole has won the French Open three times consecutively (2022-2024).

The World No. 1 will seek to add an Olympic gold to her four French Open titles at Roland Garros. Making it easier to achieve that goal is the absence of potential rivals Aryna Sabalenka, Ons Jabeur, reigning silver medalist Marketa Vondrousova, and the latest casualty, Elena Rybakina.

Rybakina, the third seed, is sidelined with bronchitis. The Kazakh joins World No. 1 from the men’s draw Jannik Sinner, Swiatek’s teammate Hubert Hurkacz, and Holger Rune in the withdrawals list.

Iga Swiartek, the top seed in Paris, is in her second Olympics. Her debut came at the 2020 Tokyo Games, where she finished 17th in singles and 5th in doubles.

Her path to the gold medal is paved with a mix of formidable players and easy picks alike.

First Round: Irina-Camelia Begu

Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu is making her third appearance at the showpiece event. She represented Romania in the 2012 London and 2016 Rio editions. The 33-year-old Begu is slated to play Iga Swiatek in the first round.

The two first-round competitors, born a decade apart, have met only once on the WTA Tour. Their sole meeting came in the third round at Wimbledon in 2021, with Swiatek winning in straight sets.

Second Round: Nadia Podoroska/Diane Parry

Potential second-round opponents for Swiatek will be either Nadia Podoroska or Home Hope Diane Parry. The Pole leads Podoroska (1-0) in their head-to-head but is yet to face Parry on the tour. Swiatek overcame Podoroska in the semi-final of the 2020 edition of the French Open.

The up-and-coming Frenchwoman, Diane Parry will be making her Olympic Games debut. Nadia Podoroska made her Olympic debut in Tokyo in 2020, the same year as Swiatek. Podoroska finished in 9th place in the singles event in the Tokyo edition.

Round 3: Diana Shnaider (15)

Diana Shnaider will be the first seed Iga Swiatek is likely to play in Paris. The two are seeded to meet in the third round in what is to be their first career meeting. The 20-year-old Shnaider is the 15th seed as she makes her Olympic Games debut against the ‘Queen of Clay.’ The Russian is fresh from winning the Hungarian Open in Budapest. She picked up the title, dropping only one set in the opening round.

Quarter-finals: Danielle Collins (8)/Jelena Ostapenko (10)

Two top ten seeds are potential quarter-final rivals for Iga Swiatek as the tennis event reaches the business end. While Swiatek enjoys a 6-1 head-to-head lead against Danielle Collins (8), she is not as dominant against Jelena Ostapenko. The tenth seed from Latvia leads Swiatek 4-0. With all four wins coming on surfaces other than clay, their potential round of eight meetings could see a different story unfold. 

Both Collins and Ostapenko will be first-time opponents for Swiatek on clay. Ostapenko has two singles appearances at the Olympics (Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020), finishing in 33rd position in both editions. Collins will be making her Olympics debut at the 2024 Paris Games.

Semi-finals: Caroline Garcia (17)

Caroline Garcia will be standing in for the No. 3 seed, Elena Rybakina after the latter had to withdraw as she was afflicted with acute bronchitis. Rybakina’s other pre-tournament withdrawals include Eastbourne, Rome and Indian Wells.

Garcia and Swiatek have played five times on the WTA Tour, with the Pole enjoying a 4-1 lead against the French player. Garcia, a former top-five player, is a 2017 French Open quarter-finalist. The prospective semi-final clash will be a first on clay for the duo.

Garcia is a two-time participant at the Olympics (Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020). The Frenchwoman finished 17th in 2016 and 33rd in 2020.

Finals: Coco Gauff (2)

Coco Gauff is making her Olympic debut and is seeded to meet Iga Swiatek in the finals. Swiatek has got the better of Gauff no less than eleven times across twelve meetings on tour. The Pole is 4-0 against Gauff on clay courts, with two of those wins coming in 2024 at Roland Garros and the Italian Open.

Gauff had to give the Tokyo Olympics a miss after testing positive for Covid-19 in the run-up to the event. The 20-year-old Gauff joins LeBron James as a flag bearer for Team USA at the Opening Ceremony on Friday, making her the youngest athlete to carry the flag from her country.

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