Daniil Medvedev and clay courts have a famously complicated relationship. The former world No. 1 has never hidden his ambivalence about the surface, and heading into Roland Garros, he has apparently found a solution to his clay court struggles: study Iga Swiatek. The problem was that Swiatek was sitting right next to him when he said it.

During a fan event hosted by their shared racket sponsor Tecnifibre, Medvedev confessed that his ultimate clay court study guide is the four-time French Open champion. “I look up to Iga’s matches. Especially if she plays before me and that’s perfect because then I can see how she plays,” he said with a laugh. 

Swiatek, sitting alongside him, did not let the comment go unechoed. “Unfortunately, I play after you. That’s why 3 on 3,” she replied, a pointed reference to her losing the last three clay tournaments she has participated in, Stuttgart, Madrid, and Rome, an anomaly for the Pole on the surface. 

Medvedev doubled down rather than retreating. “That’s why it didn’t work out, you were not watching the right person playing on clay,” he said, turning the joke back around on Swiatek. The audience embraced it with glee, and the scene was a perfect illustration of the chemistry the duo shares both in and out of the ring. Next to each other, two of the most cerebral and sharp personalities in tennis, and they execute blows with a smile. 

Eventually, Medvedev did admit his own clay-court limitations after joking about it, but he even reflected on the good run in Rome. “No but I just try to do my best. Sometimes I like clay, sometimes I don’t. Rome was good and I hope in Roland Garros, I am gonna like it as well,” he added. 

He believes that Rome was a good swing clay, especially after the start of the clay season. At Monte-Carlo, the Russian was double bagelled for the first time in his career against Matteo Berrettini. From that horrific start, he made it to the semifinal of the Italian Open before losing to Jannik Sinner in a match that had to be played over two days due to the rain, 6-2, 5-7, 6-4. Medvedev caused trouble for the world No. 1, which no one has been able to cause for the past few months, something he will take great confidence from heading to Paris. The Foro Italico is his most comfortable red-dirt venue by far, as his only clay title remains the 2023 Rome Masters.

Meanwhile, Iga enters Roland Garros as a semifinalist from last year, and the player Medvedev is thought to be taking as his clay court model. It’s yet to be seen if his analysis of her game will come in handy on five sets of Parisian clay over two weeks. 

Swiatek, for her part, is seeking redemption on her favorite surface, as she holds a 40-3 record at Roland Garros, a 93% win percentage. Last year, Aryna Sabalenka broke her 26-match win streak at the French Open, which dated back to her 2022 championship run. For the ‘Queen of Clay,’ the last clay-court title came in 2024 at the French Open. In 24 months, she has not been able to get her hands on another. That is not the standard she has set for herself, and she looks to change that this time around.

Iga Swiatek heads to Paris seeking redemption

The joke Swiatek made about the score, “that’s why 3 on 3,” had more meaning than the laugh it got. Her 2026 clay season has been a whole series of “almosts” and “unfortunates.” It opened at Stuttgart with a quarterfinal loss to Mirra Andreeva. She retired in tears from her round of 32 match in Madrid, where she faced Ann Li, who was leading 3-0 in the third set with a gastrointestinal illness. And in Rome, despite reaching the semifinals, she fell to Elina Svitolina in three sets. Three tournaments, three exits before the trophy. 

The sequence started in fact in 2025. Swiatek fell in the Stuttgart quarterfinals and went on to miss out on defending her titles in Madrid, Rome, and Roland Garros, losing 2,000 ranking points in the process. On a surface where she had previously gone 21-1 in a single season, she had not reached a final anywhere on clay. The most shocking result was in Rome, against Danielle Collins, a player she had beaten six consecutive times; she fell behind in the first set 0-5. Swiatek’s record over the past two clay seasons is 17-7 on the surface, which is good for most players, but is a significant drop from the 62-5 she posted on clay from 2022 to 2024. The last time she held a title was the Seoul Open in September 2025. In nine months and two different playing surfaces, she has gone without a trophy. 

The only change coming into Roland Garros is the coaching situation. She let go of Wim Fissette and recruited Francisco Roig, who worked with Rafael Nadal for almost 20 years. Swiatek even went to the Rafael Nadal Academy for training, alongside her new coach, where the 14-time Roland Garros champion shared his insights in person with the Pole. In Rome, Swiatek embraced the change on her own: 

“I’ve been playing a bit differently. There are tournaments where you feel you play terrible, not even play but you overall feel terrible. You need to accept it can happen and move on, work so you have an opportunity to play good on the next one. For sure I feel good here,” she said.

Her performance at Roland Garros is still the most dominant performance at a single Grand Slam in the modern era – 40 wins, three losses, four titles. Whether the Roig effect can translate that Rome form into a fifth Paris title is the central question of the women’s draw. Medvedev could be seeking advice on playing on clay. The entire sport will be on the Parisian clay to see if Swiatek can reclaim her throne and end the trophy drought with the ultimate prize.