Swiatek now unbeaten in 27 matches
Rewind to the French Open in 2020 and regular follows of the WTA Tour will remember that was Iga Swiatek's first and only Grand Slam title. While we'd discussed Swiatek's high potential before her maiden Grand Slam trophy, her success was still a big shock - ranked outside the top 50, she destroyed the field, including Sofia Kenin in the final.
Back to current times now, and Swiatek has kicked on. We have to go back to Dubai in February to find the last time that the Pole lost a match (a final set tiebreak to Jelena Ostapenko) and since then, she's won 27 matches in a row, including Rome last week in straight sets.
In fact, such was Swiatek's dominance in the Italian capital, that in the 10 sets she played (and she played four players either currently in or previously ranked in the top 10), she won two via a bagel, and only two went to a close set (6-4 or greater).
A new period of dominance appears on the cards
Considering this, it's probably not a surprise that Swiatek is the dominant favourite at 2.01/1 to be celebrating her second Grand Slam title in several week's time.
Actually, given the above, there's a pretty solid case to make that she could justifiably even be priced shorter than her current even money quote. Either way, this is dominance not seen on the WTA Tour since peak Serena Williams a good few years ago.
Looking at the table for players ranked by combined service/return points won percentages on clay in the last 12 months, Swiatek is out on her own at the top.
She's over 3% better than the next contender, but that's injured Barbora Krecjikova, who hasn't played since February, and around 5% better than the duo of Ons Jabeur and second favourite Simona Halep, who is priced at 12.011/1.
Filters give a clue about who to keep an eye on
So, who should we be keeping an eye on ahead of the draw - because at least one other player apart from Swiatek has to get to the final?
Looking at some players who are bigger prices and are in excess of 105% combined service/return points won on clay in the last 12 months (still miles behind Swiatek, but top 10 level), the Exchange looks to have it about right, at least at the top of the market.
Those filters dig out the following names including Ons Jabeur and Paula Badosa- the third and fourth favourite - but other players at bigger prices who were flagged were Danielle Collins, Belinda Bencic, Elena Rybakina and Amanda Anisimova. All of these should be priced in excess of 50.049/1 on the Exchange.
Collins has been inconsistent on clay so far this season, for example in Rome beating Halep but then getting easily beaten by Anisimova, while Bencic also lost to Anisimova in Rome.
However, she's won a 500 level title on clay this season already in Charleston, beating the likes of Badosa and Jabeur to pick up the trophy, while Anisimova, who has picked up those strong victories over rival contenders of late, is 10-3 on clay this season.
That should give some insight into options to keep an eye on ahead of Thursday's French Open draw, where we will be able to assess the potential path to the final for each player. I'll be returning in the coming days to work out any outright recommendations.