Iga Swiatek cautious of Niemeier threat as she begins bid for fourth Grand Slam in Oz

| by Tom Grant

Iga Swiatek begins her bid for a first Australian Open title on Monday night against Jule Niemeier and admitted she is not taking the German's challenge lightly.

The Pole is favourite to claim her fourth Grand Slam title in Melbourne after a dominant 2022 saw her become World No.1, win two majors and finish the year with over 10,000 ranking points.

Swiatek's assault on the first slam of the season starts against rising star and World No. 68 Niemeier, a player she knows well after being given a scare by the lower-ranked plauyer at last year's US Open.

Niemeier won the first set but the Polish star rallied to win 2-6, 6-4, 6-0.

And, speaking to reporters at Media Day on Saturday, the number one seed is using that experience to ensure she stays motivated ahead of the match.

She said:

"You saw how intense that match was, how tough. It's not going to be easy. But on the other hand, any match at a Grand Slam is always more intense and more stressful than other tournaments. I'll be ready for it. "It's nice also that we played not so long ago, so I can take a lot from that match. Now I know how her ball feels on the racquet. But she has the same. So we'll see."

Iga Swiatek

Team Swiatek spent the pre-season working on fine-tuning her game rather than complicating it and the Pole insists she has copied some of the greats of the men's game to prepare for the season ahead.

Swiatek added:

"I would say the differences are going to be smaller. I think it's normal because when you get to the point where your ball is pretty fast, it's not like you can make it even faster because you're going to kind of lose control. There are kind of limits in terms of that. For me, it's all about staying kind of solid and actually not changing a lot. It worked, so why would I change a lot? [If you look at] the greatest players that are consistent throughout their whole careers, it's not like Novak changed a lot in his game since a few years ago. I think it matters to be able to just be consistent with the best game you have."

Iga Swiatek
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