‘That’s Really a Privilege’- Iga Swiatek Says She Now Has the Upper Hand on the WTA Tour

Following her invincible form, Iga Swiatek feels she is much more confident now. The Polish player is currently playing at the Billie Jean King Cup, leading the Polish team. Playing against the Romanian squad, Iga won her opening singles against Mihaela Buzarnescu, beating the Romanian 6-1, 6-0.

Iga Swiatek on playing against left-handers

Being in her dream form, the match looked like a cakewalk for Iga, who beat the left-handed Mihaela in just 55 mins. Post the match, Iga admitted, “I like playing against lefties.”

Going further, Iga revealed that she got used to playing with left-handed players by practicing with fellow Polish player Maja Chwalinska, who also happens to be her best friend. “We have Maja Chwalinska in our team – she’s also a leftie – and I was practicing with her. She’s one of my best friends. I got used to it on our practices here” she said.

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Prior to the Billie Jean King Cup, Iga played a number of other left-handed players during her previous tournaments. Post her clash with Mihaela Buzarnescu, Iga opened up about how difficult it was for her to outplay Mihaela. World No. 1 recalled her meetings with Kerber (in Indian Wells) and Kvitova (in Miami) as she went on confessing that she didn’t face much difficulty. She said, “It wasn’t a huge challenge for me because I also played against [Angelique] Kerber and [Petra] Kvitova the last couple of weeks.”

How has the successful run in the previous tournaments affected Swiatek?

Swiatek has been on a dream run since the start of the 2022 season. The 20-year-old started her season by reaching the semis in Adelaide International as well as the Australian Open. Even though she suffered an early loss in Dubai, she made a comeback, winning the Qatar Open, followed by the Sunshine Doubles.

Opening up on how her results so far have affected her, Iga said, “I’m much more confident right now.” Elaborating on this, she further said, “I feel like I have grown up for sure. I’ve developed every aspect of my game.” 

Counting from her gracious win at the Qatar Open, Iga has been on an 18-0-win streak. Having her aggressive game in place, Swiatek has beaten some of the biggest names in the current lot of players during her title wins in Qatar, Indian Wells, and Miami. Having Swiatek in her peak form, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that her opponents feel pressure just by her presence on the opposite side.

Swiatek feels this is a ‘privilege’. Expressing herself on her current form, Iga said, “The streak that I have on the WTA Tour has given me so much confidence that right now I can just put pressure on my opponents and that’s really a privilege.”

After showing her dominance on the hard surface, Iga will look to continue the same on clay courts. Iga is expected to start her clay-court season either at the Stuttgart Open or the Madrid Open.

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On the Billie Jean King Cup front, Swiatek will next play against Irina-Camelia Begu.