‘Right Now Tennis Is Getting Faster and Faster’ – Iga Swiatek Reveals a Change in Strategy in Her Game

Iga Swiatek stunned the tennis fraternity when she lifted the 2020 French Open title as a 19-year-old. She defeated Sofia Kenin of the USA in straight sets in the summit clash to win her maiden Grand Slam title. In the process, she became the first Polish player to win a Grand Slam singles title. Further, she has reached a career-high ranking of four and is the youngest player in the top-10 of the WTA rankings.

The 20-year-old is known as a ‘perfectionist’ and has shown tremendous consistency over her career thus far. Recently, she revealed a change in her playing style this season.

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Iga Swiatek adopts a more aggressive approach this season

Last week, she was in Dubai to participate in the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. During an interview there, the interviewer asked her about her change in approach to a more aggressive style this season.

Replying to the question, she said, “You know, these are the kind of things you can’t really maybe see sometimes, because it’s all about the feeling. I could feel that I was kind of stopping my hands a little bit, I wasn’t really loosened up. Right now I have more moments when I can feel that I have nothing to lose and I’m going all in. Actually, before really I didn’t want to take that risk, because I didn’t want to be that kind of player who is just going to shoot the balls and we’re going to see if it’s going to be in or out.”

Further, she added, “I wanted always to be solid and be the kind of clay court player who is going to play topspin and stay back. But really, right now tennis is getting faster and faster. You can see that in tournaments. Players who are attacking and leading are winning. I wanted to also learn how to do that. They convinced me basically to do that, because at first I had that attitude that, Hey, I’m happy with my solid game, you know. But this is actually making my matches easier, so I don’t know why I was so stubborn (smiling).”

Iga Swiatek’s 2022 season so far

The Polish tennis star opened her campaign this year at the Adelaide International 1 tournament. She managed a semifinal finish at the tournament, losing to the top seed Ashleigh Barty in the last-four clash. Further, the Australian Open panned out in a similar fashion. Swiatek couldn’t overcome Danielle Collins in the semifinals, going down in straight sets.

Her next tournament was in Dubai, where she lost in the second round against the former French Open champion, Jelena Ostapenko. Can Swiatek be the ‘player to watch out for this season? Let us know your views in the comments below.

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