Iga Swiatek - Back to Business
Swiatek started the year as clear number 1 but suffered a shock straight sets defeat to Elena Rybakina in the 4th round of the Australian Open. This immediately got fans and media talking that she would struggle to retain her number 1 position. Both Ayrna Sabalenka and Rybakina took advantage with each getting to the final; Sabalenka coming from a set down to take her first major title.
Fast forward to the clay court season in the spring, Sabalenka defeated Swiatek in the final of Madrid and was now hunting the number 1 ranking. In Rome, Swiatek succumbed to Rybakina yet again; a player who is becoming a nemesis for her. Swiatek retired in the 3rd set after losing the 2nd set on a tiebreak.
At the French Open, Swiatek retained her title with a strong run to the final taking out Coco Gauff in the quarterfinal and Beatrice Haddad Maia in the semifinal. However, Swiatek had an almighty tussle in the final against Czech player Karolina Muchova, where it looked for a while that Muchova would prevail. However, Swiatek dug deep in the 3rd set, and came back from a break down to take her 3rd French Open title. I assume this is her most satisfying win, due to been under media and fan pressure for the first time as world number 1.
Her joy was relatively short lived though, the grass court season proving her Achilles heel for the second year in a row. This time, Swiatek managed to get to the quarterfinals after a tight 4th round match with Belinda Bencic. Swiatek would not escape the quarterfinals, Elena Svitolina taking the match 7-5, 6-7, 6-2. It seems clear as of now Swiatek’s style of play is not conducive to grass, which is a little surprising as she is a junior Wimbledon champion.
Swiatek was in danger of losing her number 1 ranking but Sabalenka was unable to capitalise, losing in the semifinal to Ons Jabeur.
The hardcourt season cannot be described as a success in any way. In fact, it was relatively poor. Swiatek lost in the semifinal in Canada to Jessica Pegula in three sets. Incredibly her serve was broken a whopping eleven times throughout the course of the match :-0
Coco Gauff was able to record her first ever win against Swiatek in the semifinal of Cincinnati, prevailing 7-6, 3-6, 6-4. Things got worse for Swiatek, as she reached the fourth round of the US Open, then lost to the mercurial Jelena Ostapenko, Even more remarkable is Swiatek has never beaten Ostapenko in an official match, losing for the fourth time in a row. This is extremely unusual for a number 1 player in any era, to have such a poor record against essentially a Top 20 player.
This meant Sabalenka was finally able to claim the world number 1 ranking by making the final of the US Open. She couldn’t celebrate too hard after losing the US Open final to Coco Gauff despite being a set up.
By this stage the knives were firmly out for Swiatek, predicting her imminent demise. Comparisons were made to former World Number 1s who lost the position and never recovered; from Lleyton to Hewitt to Jim Courier. Those with cool heads attempted to explain that it is quite normal for a player to lose the number 1 ranking after a while, then through hard work and perseverance, regain the number 1 position at a future date. For whatever reason, a sizeable faction did not want to hear this and were openly questioning Swiatek’s mental state after a couple of press conferences and statements which perhaps did not hit the mark. Swiatek also stopped wearing the Ukraine ribbon in her cap, which also attracted a lot of “comments”.
Swiatek did recover some confidence before the WTA Championships in the autumn by winning the China Open. In that run, Swiatek beat Caroline Garcia, Coco Gauff and Luidmilla Samsanova. But it is the WTA Championships where Swiatek showed the world what she is all about. Winning every match in straight sets, including against Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova and US Open champion Coco Gauff. With the year end number 1 ranking on the line, Swiatek took down Sabalenka 6-3, 6-2 in the semifinal and thrashed Jessica Pegula 6-1, 6-0 to reclaim the number 1 ranking in spectacular fashion. Swiatek regained the number 1 ranking from Sabalenka in the very last match of the season!
The 2023 season was remarkable for Swiatek in a number of ways. The first is Swiatek won a major title by retaining the French Open. Despite appearing to struggle mightily in many big tournaments, Swiatek compiled a 67-to-11-win loss record which is mightily impressive and shows she was often in contention. Plus it is not possible to get a bigger confidence boost than winning the WTA finals in style and regaining the number 1 position.
Swiatek has a
few hurdles to climb in 2024. She is yet
to make an Australian Open final and as things stand is not a favourite to win
the Wimbledon title. Slightly surprising because as mentioned earlier, she is a
junior Wimbledon champion but due to her style of play, it is proving
difficult. Amelie Mauresmo won Wimbledon with an extreme western forehand grip
but her strengths were her beautiful volleys, topspin backhand, slice backhand,
strong serve and athletic ability. Swiatek possesses the athletic ability but
is lacking a transition game and strong net play. Swiatek also does not use the
slice backhand on the low ball. Swiatek needs more variety in her game.
I also noticed Swiatek slightly amended her tactics in the 2023 season. She seems not play the diagonal game as much as throughout 2022. This could be due to a slight dip in confidence, where she is playing the middle of the court. I am not sure this suits as her forehand is not quite as effective from that position. Swiatek needs to make space to hit the ball effectively with an extreme grip, improvising is not as easy for her and hence starts hitting off the backfoot a bit too much.
Swiatek’s resurgence makes the 2024 season a very interesting one. How will her rivals respond? We’ll soon find out.
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