Road to Roland Garros, presented by ZipRecruiter, WTA Rome: Will Iga Swiatek restore order after a surprise-filled week in Madrid?

TC Live: Swiatek trains at Rafa Nadal Academy

Iga Swiatek leaves the tour for a week and look what happens: Upheaval in Madrid, with most of the Top 10 out by the third round. Swiatek, the WTA’s newly crowned and recently dominant No. 1, will return to a tournament she won last year. Can she return some order to the tour, and extend her 23-match win streak? Or will it be another week of surprises? Here’s a look at the women’s draw in Rome.

First Quarter

Swiatek has been virtually unchallenged for three months, but that could change this week. Her quarter has its share of quality players, and opponents who can spring upsets on the right day. She’ll start against either Shelby Rogers or Alison Riske; Rogers in particular is a player who can hit with anyone. After that, she could play Victoria Azarenka, and then, possibly, Anett Kontaveit, Bianca Andreescu, or Emma Raducanu in the quarterfinals. The fifth-seeded Kontaveit could use a good result; after soaring up the rankings in late 2021 and early 2022, she’s been in a mini-slump since Indian Wells. She’ll start against Petra Martic.

First-round match to watch:

• Andreescu vs. Raducanu

Semifinalist: Swiatek

Second Quarter

Simona Halep is unseeded in Rome, but she has to be counted among the contenders. She has won the title once, in 2020, and been to the final two other times, in 2017 and 2018. Halep has also (mostly) looked revived and upbeat with new coach Patrick Mouratoglou. She’ll play seventh-seeded Danielle Collins next, but that might be just the first big hitter of many she’ll face in this section: Arya Sabalenka, former Rome finalist Madison Keys, and Amanda Anisimova are also here. As are Charleston champ Belinda Bencic and Madrid finalist Jessica Pegula.

First-round match to watch:

• Keys vs. Anhelina Kalinina

Second-round match to watch:

• Halep vs. Collins

Semifinalist: Bencic

Third Quarter

What kind of condition, mentally and physically, will Ons Jabeur be in after her first Masters 1000 title, in Madrid? The men’s winner, Carlos Alcaraz, has already pulled out of Rome. Assuming she makes the trip, she’ll start against Sorana Cirstea. A Madrid-Rome double would be a big ask.

While Jabeur is not in need of a win at the moment, the same can’t be said for the top seed in this section, Maria Sakkari. Like Kontaveit, Sakkari has been flying high for the past year, but right now she’s in a lull—maybe all of that tennis took its toll. Since reaching the final in Indian Wells, she’s 1-3. She’ll want to get that turned around before she heads to Paris, where she made the semifinals last year. Sakkari will start with either Ekaterina Alexandrova or Sloane Stephens.

Also here: Garbiñe Muguruza, who, like Sakkari, would seem to be due for a good result.

First-round match to watch:

• Coco Gauff vs. Angelique Kerber

Semifinalist: Sakkari

Fourth Quarter

We can add Paula Badosa’s name, alongside Sakkari’s, Kontaveit’s, Muguruza’s and others, to the list of players who haven’t come up with the breakout win they seemed destined to have this spring. Badosa is the No. 2 seed, and ranked No. 3 in the world, but she’s just 5-3 on clay so far this year. Maybe her draw will help: The other seeds in this section are No. 6 Karolina Pliskova, who has yet to find her form after missing the early part of the season, No. 11 Jelena Ostapenko, and No. 14 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

Player of Interest: Pliskova. She’s just 2-5 in 2022, but she has reached the finals in Rome the last three years.

First-round matches to watch:

• Pavlyuchenkova vs. Leylah Fernandez
• Local favorite Jasmine Paolini vs. Madrid semifinalist Jil Teichmann

Semifinalist: Pliskova

Semifinals: Swiatek d. Bencic; Pliskova d. Sakkari

Final: Swiatek d. Pliskova