Iga Swiatek - Back to Business

  

It has proved to be a very interesting year for Iga Swiatek.

Swiatek started the year as clear number 1 but suffered a shock straight sets defeat to Elena Rybakina in the 4^th 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 3^rd set after losing the 2^nd 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 3^rd set, and came back from a break down to take her 3^rd 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 4^th 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.

 

Previewing The 2023 WTA Season

 

With the 2023 WTA season fast approaching, let’s take a look at the contenders for the big titles.

https://lastwordonsports.com/tennis/2023/01/02/previewing-the-2023-wta-season/

Previewing the 2023 ATP Season

 

The 2022 season was a bizarre one in many ways. Starting off with the controversy swirling around Novak Djokovic, and ending with a teenager as world #1 in the shape of Carlos Alcaraz. This is something no one would have predicted. All the same, the established old men of Djokovic and Nadal won three of the four majors on offer. So, what will the 2023 ATP season hold?

https://lastwordonsports.com/tennis/2023/01/03/preview-2023-atp-season/

Five Crazy Tennis Moments in 2022

2022 was an incredibly volatile year for professional tennis. Here are five crazy moments that stand out.

https://lastwordonsports.com/tennis/2023/01/01/five-crazy-tennis-moments-in-2022/ 

Stefanos Tsitsipas – Delusions of Grandeur?

The 2022 tennis season proved a rather strange one.

A season which started in January with Novak Djokovic getting sensationally expelled from the Australian Open. Women’s #1 Ash Barty retired completely out of the blue. Alexander Zverev was disqualified for cursing out an umpire and repeatedly smashing his chair with his racquet in the Mexican Open. And Russian and Belarussian players were banned from Wimbledon for the war in Ukraine, with the ATP and WTA tour awarding no points for the competition in retaliation. 

 https://lastwordonsports.com/tennis/2022/12/03/stefanos-tsitsipas-delusions-of-grandeur/

My Visit to Paris Bercy Masters, 2022 Edition

The Paris Bercy Masters 1000 is one of the top events on the tennis calendar. The last big event before the World Tour finals in Turin, the big boys tend to turn up and give a show.

This was my first visit to Paris Bercy since 2003. Back then I saw the likes of Jonas Bjorkman, Tim Henman, Gustavo Kuerten, Roger Federer and the talented but forgotten Martin Verkerk. Great names indeed but from a totally different era in every sense. That particular event was held on fast indoor carpet. Today, indoor tournaments are primarily played on indoor hardcourt (plexicushion). Having watched live tennis for over 20 years, the big difference between carpet and plexicushion is the speed and the bounce. No doubt plexicushion is relatively slower and higher bouncing; players have to hit harder to penetrate defences.  This in turn has allowed counterpunchers to flourish, particularly counterpunchers with fast twitch fibres.

This was my first visit to Bercy since 2003 but not live tennis in Paris. I attended the French Open on six occasions and the WTA Paris Indoors three years in a row. That was an excellent tournament, sadly now defunct, part of the recent flux and uncertainty of the WTA tour.

Back to Paris Bercy, I attended the day session of the quarterfinals, with four of the Next Gen / Gen Z on show. Francis Tiafoe took on Felix Auger-Aliassime whilst Holger Rune entertained Carlos Alcaraz. Not sure if these guys are Next Gen or Gen Z, there are now so many labels I can’t keep up! Tiafoe v Aliassime was first up, USA vs Canada. The first thing that grabbed my attention was how tentative Tiafoe appeared in the warm up. I would hasten to say casual, not moving his feet at all and patting the ball back and forth. Auger-Aliassime was the opposite, hitting the ball as hard as possible, as if the match already begun!

Play did commence and before he knew it Tiafoe was 4-1 down, still looking lethargic. At one stage Tiafoe played a rally which summed up his lack of mental application. He played a series of drop shots, allowing Aliassime to get to each one with time to spare. Not the way to play drop shots! Tiafoe lost the first set 6-1 and didn’t fare too much better in the second set. Even so, Tiafoe tried to get himself going, engaging the crowd and hugging a ball boy but none of it worked. Tiafoe also won a point with a serve and high forehand volley with what can only be described as a frying pan grip. Amateurs who play tennis will know exactly what I mean by a frying pan grip, not something I thought a professional would utilise.

But then I noticed something else, my notes hardly mentioned Auger-Aliassime. It seemed a lot about Tiafoe’s failings. So what about Auger-Aliassime? His performance was solid if unspectacular, slightly uninspiring.  Could he lift his game if he was properly challenged? On this occasion it didn’t matter as he strolled to a 6-1 6-4 victory. Having seen Auger-Aliassime up close, I still think he needs to do a lot more if he wants to win a grand slam tournament. He plays within himself too often; he needs to display more of his talent, and more energy.

The second match involved two 19 year olds. World number 1 Carlos Alcaraz from Spain took on Denmark’s Holger Rune.  I was looking forward to this match, my first opportunity to see US Open champ Alcaraz. Alcaraz unsurprisingly (to me at least) has struggled for form and fitness since his breakthrough in September. We have seen this before; he is not ready to dominate. Fans will need to understand this and coach Juan Carlos Ferrero will not be panicking. The media is another animal altogether and they will pile the pressure on if results do not go his way.

Both players came out to “I Love Rock and Roll” by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. Interesting choice! Anyone reading this under the age of 40 will have to google Joan Jett. With the coin toss done, Alcaraz sprinted to the baseline, a la Rafael Nadal. Alcaraz won the coin toss and chose to receive. This left me slightly surprised, a decision counterpunchers usually make to receive serve first. 

I don’t consider Alcaraz a consistent counterpuncher but it might reveal his current state of mind. This fuelled Rune who came out strong, serving well and displaying a big forehand which he was not afraid to use. Alcaraz was immediately on the back foot, initially saving break points early but got broken soon enough. In fact by the seventh game Alcaraz already lost all of his challenges with silly decision making on balls that were clearly out. Rune in the meantime was looking sharp, coming into net off short balls and putting away volleys with aplomb, taking the first set 6-3.

Alcaraz came out for the second set looking far better, coming to net and unleashing huge shots from the baseline. One thing about live tennis is watching big shots been produced by great players. The acoustics of live tennis tend to be different. When watching on television, or internet stream, microphones are put close to the court, amplified shots can sound like gun shots, making it more dramatic.

As the second set went on, Rune was starting to make more mistakes, coinciding with Alcaraz employing more drop shots. However, Rune held off Alcaraz’s surge impressively, and we were set for a major battle in the second set tiebreak. Sadly, Alcaraz twisted his abdomen just when things were getting interesting, after lengthy treatment and a couple more points, retired hurt. However, it was a great battle between two future top players who will be vying for the major tournaments.

I arrived for the final on Sunday knowing Rune would play Novak Djokovic. In the semifinals, Rune beat Auger-Aliassime 6-4 6-2 and Djokovic beat Stefanos Tsitsipas in a third set tiebreak. Having seen both young guys on Friday, the result was not a surprise. Rune seems eager to get to the top, whilst Aliassime does not appear determined enough, missing the X factor. Determination and not just skill is a huge factor in how far players can go in their career.

Djokovic beating Tsitsipas was also not a surprise. Since the ill-fated French Open final of 2021 where Djokovic came from two sets down to beat Tsitsipas, Tsitsipas has not beaten a top player in an important match. He is mentally struggling, and only he and his team can pull himself out of this. The belief is not there when it matters.

On the other hand, Djokovic at age 35 is almost twice the age of his final opponent, that is something. It was all about Rune in the final; could he hold it together mentally? At age 19 he could run all day but his tactics would be interesting. The match started with Rune unsurprisingly nervous but still going for his shots. In typical Djokovic fashion, he stayed steady and eventually broke twice in the first set to take it 6-3.

Despite the setback, Rune was still going for shots, and his 2^nd serve. Remarkably, at one stage he hit a 2^nd serve at 200kph (125 mph). Not sure if that was exuberance of youth or lack of experience in not playing steady. One thing became clear; Rune was not interested in playing longer rallies with Djokovic, ultimately a wise decision. Rune wanted to attack short balls and close the net; stay aggressive often. A commendable game plan against the supreme counterpuncher in tennis history. The aggressive mind-set worked because Rune broke right at the start of the second set, and was able to hold serve throughout to take it 6-3.

Djokovic thought he gained control of the match in the third set, breaking Rune but Rune broke back, showing his resilience. Rune broke again at 6-5 to serve for the match, taking the already raucous Paris Bercy crowd into an absolute frenzy. The final game seemed to take twenty minutes, I lost count of the break points but there were two match points at least. On the first match point, Rune missed the 1st serve and double faulted, attempting a 2^nd serve on the line at near 200kph. Maybe he got caught up in the atmosphere because that was crazy stuff! Rune eventually won it, getting the error of an attempted Djokovic half volley.

Rune won by staying aggressive and not being overawed by the occasion, this bodes well for the future. Djokovic was gracious in defeat but demonstrated just how hard it is to put him away! The first of many Masters Shields for Rune if he continues to progress.

What I like about Rune and Alcaraz is they play quick. No messing between 1^st and 2^nd serves, no timewasting or bouncing the ball excessively before serving. Plus, their first instinct is to go for their shots.

The future of tennis is in good hands if Next Gen players continue to shun the counterpuncher style. All top players from every era need to know how to defend, but we want players coming through who want to attack first and foremost, whilst having the ability to defend when required. Former number 1 Daniil Medvedev needs to take note, he has retreated into a defensive shell, and his ranking and confidence is taking a hit.

All in all, another great Masters event at Paris Bercy.

 

Champion Carlos Alcaraz Throws Down Gauntlet To The “Next Gen”

 

We have witnessed the most interesting US Open tournament for a number of years. There were great matches, individual stories and youngest #1 player to boot. However, my biggest takeaway from the US Open is the revival of a true all-court player at the top of tennis.  

https://lastwordonsports.com/tennis/2022/09/13/carlos-alcaraz-next-gen/