Iga Swiatek vs Julia Grabher Prediction: Top-ranked Iga should breeze through

The French Open or Roland Garros tournament isn’t far away and the clay surface has been brought into the foreground. The stakes are high and these tournaments are crucial when a player wants to get in rhythm. Anyway, in this game on the clay court, Iga Swiatek takes on Julie Grabher.

Swiatek comes into the tournament after winning the Stuttgart Open, defeating Aryna Sabalenka in two sets. Since the fourth-round loss against Elena Rybakina in the Australian Open, Iga has reached three finals, winning two titles and she continues to make light of early round match-ups. There is a reason why Iga is the number one player for many weeks. It looks like she is an automatic pick for the title and if not the title, then at least reached the Final. Iga’s special service game is backed by her ability to counter the opposition’s serve, making her a threatening player and the worst draw possible early in the tournament. 

Austrian Julie Grabher comes into the match after defeating Viktoriya Tomova 6-1, 7-6(7-5 tiebreaker). Grabher was lucky to get a win as she committed seven double-faults. However, when Julie did click on her service, she managed to outplay Vicktoriya, earning a 46-34 service points edge. Her return game was solid too and she eked out a 32-27 receiving points advantage. Grabher has been playing at a high rate lately, having beaten veterans like Zhang Shuai and her ranking has improved to 70s and 80s lately.

This is the first time these two will meet.

Iga has been the top player for a long time now and usually first round match-ups like these are a cakewalk for the Polish sensation. Julie is having a solid year but she has run into the worst match-up possible. I expect Iga to win big here.