Who would have thought that Jasmine Paolini have reached the final at a Grand Slam? Over the past 10 years, she wasn’t close, but finally, she started to try to hit the ball, much harder. And she made it, beating Mirra Andreeva 6-3, 6-1, a quick day in the semis. She was sprinting, left and right, into the corners, and back. Anytime she had a chance to rip it, she did, most of the time, because Andreeva threw in some many errors. Perhaps she was sick, but she was totally out of it.

Now, though, Paolini  has to face against the No. 1 Iga Swiatek, who is totally on fire. She won Madrid, Rome, and over the past 13 days at Roland Garros, she has been so intense, on the court. In the semis, Swiatek beat Coco Gauff 6-2, 6-4, pretty clean. Yes, Gauff had a small change to win in the second set, but Swiatek just hammered it with his  forehand. Plus, while Gauff has improved substantial, but her second serve and her forehand was spotty, at best. Yet Swiatek is much more calm, during the matches, and plus, she wants to attack, anytime she wants to. During the match, she can change her direction. 

On Saturday, she has one four Grand Slams. Another? Perhaps.

“After the tournament it usually hits me what I achieved, but during it, I feel like I just need to play another match,” said Swiatek. “Sometimes, it’s hard not to see what’s at stake and what the atmosphere is around these matches. I’m not used to it. It’s not the routine. On the other hand, when I’m focused on work, I can make it a routine because that’s easier to do.”

The Italian Paolini will have to play 100 percent, and make sure that  Swiatek will slam it, early. Even a few years ago, Paolini lost a lot, maybe because she pushed the ball, when it was close. This year, though, she knew that she had to rise up, risky of not. 

The 28-year-old Paolini said that she needed to change, and better, to everyone. “Often, I heard, ‘You play well’ and ‘You could do more. You can get good results,” she said, who is now ranked No. 7. “You could do great things.’ But I never really believed it deep down, which is something that has changed lately. The on-court results are something tangible, more concrete, to me than someone telling me, ‘You can do great things.’ It helps to win more matches — or even lose ones that were hard-fought against strong opponents.”

While Paolini has had a terrific tournament at Roland Garros, but with the Polish person on court, she will be very stable. Because if that, Swiatek will win it in straight sets, quickly.

It was surprising that Novak Djokovic could not play well at all in the third set, and he went down 6-4, 0-6, 6-1 against Tomas Machac.  He played fantastic, a lot, and he put together some terrific shots, and he actually beat the long-time No. 1. He was thrilled, but Djokovic was very disappointed. His body was fevered, and he was slow. He took a medical timeout after the first set with  a stomach issue.
“It was a terrible feeling with stomach and health today. It was not a great night and today as well,” he said. 

He isn’t sure that when he starts to play at Roland Garros, he could be OK, or to be mentally out of it.

“Of course I am worried. I haven’t been playing good at all this year,” said Djokovic, who hasn’t won a tournament in 2024. “I don’t consider myself a favorite there. I’m going to take it match by match and see how far I can go.” 

He will have to. The Czech Machac is only 23-years-old, and while he has yet to reach into the top 32 at the Grand Slamw, but he has had a solid year, here and there.  He beat a few fine competitors, but in the past four months, he did not beat the top 20 men players,  until two days ago, when he upset Djokovic.  Apparently, he rose up.

“If you play against Novak you just hope and try to play your best and see how it looks,” Machac said.

He is not the only one, as the 14-time Grand Slam Roland Garros champion, Rafa Nadal, has to face  against Alexander Zverev in the first-round. Is the German ready to chop down Nadal, on clay, or will the Spaniard play much better then he did in Madrid and Rome, when he was so-so, at best.   “To be very honest, I wanted to play Rafa again in my career, because I didn’t want my last memory of me playing against Rafa to be me leaving the court on a wheelchair,” Zverev said. “Ideally, I would have liked to play him in the later stage of the tournament, but it is how it is now. He is unseeded this year. I am seeded. You know, it’s a tough draw, but it’s a tough draw for both of us. We’ll see how it goes on Monday.”

OK, it could be a wide open amounts the men, but also, there is not doubt that  Iga Swiatek is the favorited. The No. 1 won Madrid and Rome, beating the other wonderful players, against Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff. She is so consistent, and she can hit  the ball super hard, into the corners. She can return very deep, and she can flat it out, and nail it. But it is possible that someone can play 100 percent, and upset the Pole.

“I would lie if I would say I’m not nervous, because everybody is, I think,” Swiatek said. “There is a lot of pressure, especially when you play well and you already know that you can achieve this step, people are expecting it to happen again and again and again. So there is pressure, but I wouldn’t say I’m more nervous than usual… I’m also pretty confident with how I’m playing right now and with the work we have been doing.”

On Saturday, two of the Americans, Madison Keys and Danielle Collins, will face off in the final at the Internationaux de Strasbourg. Whomever wins, then she can go to Roland Garros and feel like  she can go very deep into the second week. After that, who nows?

”I was excited to come here after Rome and playing some great tennis on clay … having some great matches under my belt this clay-court season and playing some tough opponents,” Collins said. 

Just last week, in Madrid,  in the final, Iga Swiatek  edged Aryna Sabalenka  7-5, 4-6, 7-6(7) in Madrid. That was beyond close, but in the end, the Polish person kept swinging and painting the lines. However,  Sabalenka also can read the ball, where she is throwing it to different places. They both have had a terrific year so far, most of the time, and the No. 1 and the No. 2 can focus almost all the time, point to point.

Will Swiatek go super aggressive early, or will she be more patient? Sabalenka might also leap on the second returns, and try to snap a winner. They both hit some huge forehands and there backhands, down the line, or crosscourt. They can also hit it flat, or spin it. They are very fast when they are running, and they rarely get tired. They know how they play, so they will   have to change it up a little bit, as when it goes close again, someone will chuck in some cool shots.

“Honestly, I don’t think it makes sense to think about these two matches as one continuing story because totally different tournament,” Swiatek said. “Different week, as well. It’s not like it’s going to be the same.”

Sabalenka said that all week, she was thinking why she lost. Madrid is slower, on the court, but Rome is faster. The rallies will be there, but it won’t be so long. Sabalenka might try to hit it even more deep.

“I saw somewhere Swiatek said she’s not really thinking about me when she’s practicing,” Sabalenka said, “but I personally, after so many tough matches that I lost against her, I’m always trying to improve, I’m always trying to get better. So next time I play against her I have something else to bring on court and to put her under a bit more pressure and see how many chances I’m gonna have.” 

Swiatek  won it the last time, but on Saturday, Sabalenka will rise in  another fun three sets, and the Belarus will win it 4-6, 7-5, 6-4.

When Andrey Rublev began to play in Madrid,he was almost lost. The Russian started pretty good in January, when he won a small event, in Hong Kong. Then  he reached into the quarterfinals at the Australia Open and he looked very decent, until  he backer off, and he lost against the soon-to-be champion in Melbourne Jannik Sinner. 

However, they can lose, but they can re-set what they are going. Well, Rublev didn’t do much of anything, as over the next three months, he did not go deep again, until now.

Rublev won Madrid, overcoming Felix Auger-Aliassime 7-5 in the third set to grab it. He also beat the No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz as well as the American, Taylor Fritz. All of a sudden, his huge strokes came back.

“I think it’s normal to have ups and downs because this season I started really well and I was playing amazing,” Rublev said. “Then somehow I started to do a bit worse and then a couple of weeks I could not win a match. I think this is normal to have up-and-downs and everyone go through this, so I guess my focus was not to feel if when I will go back to normal or what is normal.”

Is it really normal? It could, if the player can be very focused, on court. When he runs, Rublev  can be fast, and when he has a decent chance to start to nail the ball, he can crack it, with his heavy forehand and his backhand. He can flatten it out, or he can split it. Also, he can change the direction. 

 Rublev is currently ranked No. 6, and he will have another chance to win a Grand Slam for the first time. Yes he has won a bunch of very good players, but in a three-out-of-five, it is certainly tougher to win seven matches in a row, rather than two-out-of-three. It is a huge difference.

At Rome and Roland Garros, Rublev will have to be even more solid to go super deep, again.

Perhaps that Auger-Aliassime was out of it, all year, until he went to Madrid. He lost almost all of the time, which was unusual, because in 2022 and 2023, he was darn, good. But then he fell out, and he missed so many errors. That was unusual, but in the final in Madrid, he returned, and while he lost in the final, he put together some terrific, calm shots. He has always been super fast, and he also can try to grind it. Now, at least last week, in the clay, he touched some soft shots, with his backhand close to the net. The winners, came. However, at the end of the third set, he was close to win it, but the now No. 20 missed a few critical error and he lost. Auger-Aliassime can be consistent for the rest of the year. He must prove it, going into the summer.   

NOTES

Sinner had to retire in Madrid, and then he couldn’t play in Rome, due to an injury. The No. 2 also said he might play at Roland Garros, but maybe not,  unless he is 100 percent. That mean he won’t become the No. 1 in Paris, unless he gets healthy, which will be tough, anyway.

Four people had a fine week in Madrid with Fritz, Jiri Lehecka, Mariano Navone and Alejandro Tabilo.

Three of the Grand Slam champions are there in Rome with  Novak Djokovic, Daniil Medvedev and Rafa Nadal. Will one of them win Rome again? Maybe not, as Djokovic pulled out in Madrid, Medvedev got hurt, on the court, and Nadal is still trying to play more consistent. 

One of the players, Casper Ruud, won Barcelona, so his confidence is so high. Try to do it again.