Elina Svitolina's return to the WTA Tour has been nothing short of "extraordinary" following her break to become a mother, believes Marion Bartoli.
The former world number three took a break from tennis last year in order to have her first child, who was born in October.
Since making her return this year however, she has shown no signs of rust, winning the Strasbourg Open before a quarter-final finish at the French Open and a last-four appearance at Wimbledon.
With a rich vein of form behind her, Svitolina looks in contention for the season-ending WTA Finals later this year and Wimbledon champion Bartoli has been left impressed by her comeback.
"All I know is you [disturb] your sleeping pattern because your baby's waking up during the night [and] then of course you're a lot more tired during the day when you have to go through your training," she told Stats Perform.
"Obviously, your body's changing through pregnancy as well. To find her athleticism again and get yourself into shape, she has done it so quickly.
"She was so fit at Roland Garros [and] she was I thought even fitter at Wimbledon. For me, it's just really extraordinary to see her physically that fit and that match ready so soon.
"I would not be surprised to see her do extremely well in the US Open and actually qualify [for the WTA Finals]. I will not be surprised at all to see her ending up in the top eight at the end of this year."
Svitolina's form comes amid a wide-open tour where several of the world's best players are jockeying for success, while returns to the court for Naomi Osaka and Caroline Wozniacki have also caught headlines.
Bartoli believes it is an exciting time to follow the game, adding: "I think we are in for a great WTA Tour. We have the comeback [from] Naomi Osaka, we have the comeback of Caroline Wozniacki, which is really exciting.
"Victoria [Azarenka] [came back] super strong after pregnancy as well, and Ons Jabeur, she was so close to winning a grand slam. You have the feeling that it's not going to take too long before she wins her first.
"I think we have a lot of stories to tell. If those girls can stay on top, I think we're in for a good one."
Swiatek opens Olympic bid with straight-sets win over Begu
Iga Swiatek got her bid for Olympic gold up and running with a straight-sets victory over Irina-Camelia Begu in Paris.
The world number one is the firm favourite to win gold at Roland-Garros, where she has won four editions of the French Open, including the last three in a row.
Swiatek and Begu traded breaks at the outset of their clash on Court Philippe-Chatrier, but the Pole continued to put her opponent under pressure when receiving and back-to-back breaks took the opener away from Begu.
The second set was more of a slog for Swiatek and a break in the seventh game had Begu serving to level things up, but Swiatek found a second wind to break back and only dropped one further point from there, winning 6-2 7-5.
Swiatek will face Argentina's Nadia Podoroska or home favourite Diane Parry in the second round, with the likes of Danielle Collins, Jessica Pegula, Naomi Osaka and Angelique Kerber also on her side of the draw.
On the other side of the bracket, Jasmine Paolini – the runner-up at both the French Open and Wimbledon this year – advanced with a 7-5 6-3 win over Ana Bogdan.
Data Debrief: Twenty-two and counting for Swiatek
Swiatek has now won a remarkable 22 successive matches on the courts of Roland-Garros, last losing at the venue to Maria Sakkari in the 2021 French Open quarter-finals.
In all clay-court tournaments, she has won her last 20 matches, also capturing titles in Madrid and Rome earlier this year.
Djokovic thrilled by prospect of 'one last dance' with Nadal
Novak Djokovic is thrilled by the prospect of meeting Rafael Nadal for "one last dance" at the Paris Olympics, if the Spaniard overcomes an injury setback to feature at Roland-Garros.
Thursday's men's singles draw saw Djokovic paired with Australia's Matthew Ebden in the first round, with Nadal taking on Marton Fucsovics.
The legendary duo – who have won 46 grand slam singles titles between them – will meet in the second round if they both advance through their openers this weekend.
Djokovic and Nadal have previously faced off on 59 occasions, with the Serbian winning 30 of those contests but losing four of the last six, the most recent being a Nadal victory in four sets in the 2022 French Open quarter-finals.
Nadal's participation at the Games was thrown into doubt when his coach Carlos Moya said he had suffered a "setback" on Thursday and required 48 hours of rest.
If Nadal – who is widely expected to retire later this year – does make the tournament, Djokovic is looking forward to the prospect of facing him for a 60th time.
"Obviously he hasn't played much. His ranking dropped, so there was always going to be that possibility of me meeting him in an early round and there we go," Djokovic said.
"It's going to be a spectacle, definitely, if we get to meet. We will spread some fireworks on the court, like the good old times.
"I hope we get to meet because it will probably be one last dance for the both of us."
Djokovic is set to appear at his fifth Olympics in the French capital, the joint-most by any male player since the sport returned to the Games in 1988 (with Yen Hsun Lu).
He is the player with the most matches played (19) and joint-most matches won (13, level with Roger Federer) at the Olympics since 1988.
However, his best result at the Games remains a Bronze medal at Beijing 2008, when he was beaten by eventual gold medallist Nadal in the semi-finals.
Djokovic lost the bronze medal match to Pablo Carreno Busta at the delayed Tokyo Games three years ago, also losing to Juan Martin del Potro at both London 2012 and Rio 2016.
Linette dominates first all-Polish WTA final to win Prague Open
Magda Linette rounded off her Olympic preparations in style as she claimed her third WTA title with a comfortable win over Magdalena Frech at the Prague Open.
Linette, who beat Viktoriya Tomova and Linda Noskova on her way to the final, won in straight sets 6-2 6-1 as she now heads to Paris to face Mirra Andreeva.
The world number 41 was in the ascendency from the off, forcing a break in the fourth game and never looking back.
Despite the best efforts of Frech, who saved one set point, Linette continued to apply the pressure and another break put her a set up.
Linette would again break in the fourth game of the second set, winning three games on the bounce to secure her first career win over her compatriot.
Data Debrief: Linette prevails in first all-Polish affair
The final in Prague between Linette and Frech was the first all-Polish WTA level final in the Open Era.
Linette's triumph over her opponent was her first, having lost in the pair's previous encounter in Saint-Malo back in 2022.
During the contest, the world number 41 gave nothing away, saving all four of the break points she faced while converting three of the seven she had against Frech.
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