'She's been improving, improving unbelievably....' - Alex Corretja on Aryna Sabalenka after her heavy defeat against Iga Swiatek in Madrid Open and Rome Masters

Former tennis star Alex Corretja feels that Aryna Sabalenka has been much more consistent on clay lately, as Roland-Garros is the "toughest place" for world No. 2 to win another Grand Slam with Iga Swiatek in the draw, which is set to commence on May 26. Meanwhile, Sabalenka has been playing in three tournaments in the clay-court season, while she has advanced to two finals.

Nevertheless, she suffered a loss against world No. 1 Iga Swiatek in both the Madrid and Rome WTA 1000 finals. Swiatek won 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (7) in the extremely tough Madrid final. The 6-2, 6-3 loss was partly triggered by Sabalenka's difficulties with a back issue while in Rome. However, Corretja has given Sabalenka credit for getting better in the weeks after her previous relationship with Konstantin Koltsov passed away.

Having won three of the previous four French Open championships, the defending champion Swiatek enters the competition in excellent condition following her WTA 1000 triumphs in Madrid and Rome, respectively.

Sabalenka, she's been improving, improving unbelievably: Alex Corretja

"Sabalenka, she's been improving, improving unbelievably. I mean, I'm very impressed by the way she's hanging in there and handling the whole situation. I think she's already proved to herself that she can do very well on clay. A few years ago, maybe we thought that she was a little bit more inconsistent because she didn't like the surface that much," said Alex Corretja.

"But now she knows how to also move better and be consistent. I think before she was very powerful, but maybe she was missing a little too early. I would say now, you know that she can hit seven, eight, nine shots in a very good speed and this is so difficult for an opponent. There's so much pressure off the return, so much pressure with the serve. If someone is ready to win another major, it's Aryna," he added further.