Preview: Iga Swiatek vs. Emerson Jones - French Open prediction, form

The quest for a fifth French Open title begins this week for Iga Swiatek as she squares off with Emerson Jones in the opening round.

Ahead of this tournament, Swiatek reached the semi-finals of the Italian Open, where she lost to Elina Svitolina 4-6 6-2 2-6, while her upcoming Australian opponent was beaten in the final of the WTT W100 by Mananchaya Sawangkaew 6-7 3-6.

Match preview

It is a tournament that tends to bring out the best in her, with Iga Swiatek reaching the semi-finals or better in five of the last six French Opens.

On three of those previous four occasions, she has come away with the trophy at the end and has never lost her opening match.

Although she has not won a singles tournament on clay this year, she has reached the quarter-finals or beyond in two of her last three events on that surface.

This decade, Swiatek has not dropped a single set in any of her opening round matches at the French Open, defeating Rebecca Sramkova in straight sets at this stage last year.

For the year, she has won 67.3% of her first serves and boasted a strong 72.9% regarding her service games thus far.

The 24-year-old has struggled at times on her serve, with 70 double faults to go along with 74 aces across all surfaces in 2026.

Competing in her first French Open on the singles draw, Emerson Jones has a great opportunity to make an early name for herself at this event.

The 17-year-old Aussie, born on the Gold Coast, has never made it beyond the opening round of a Grand Slam event, exiting the Australian Open at that stage on two successive occasions.

We will see how she fares on a surface unfamiliar to her this year, as she has yet to play a competitive match on clay in 2026.

She has not lost her opening match at a singles tournament on tour since the Indian Wells Open when Nikola Bartunkova beat her in the qualifying phase.

This young Australian has been at her best on first serves, winning 62.9% of them in 2026, but she has only won 54.1% of her service games.

Her return game still needs work, as she has won only 26.7% of those this year but has converted 64% of her break points.

We say: Swiatek to win in two sets

The atmosphere at Roland-Garros should make Swiatek feel right at home, while her opponent could be in for a character-building lesson against the seasoned Polish star.