Iga Swiatek cruised into the second week of the 2023 US Open, but she faces her sternest examination on Sunday when she faces an opponent she has never defeated before.
The Polish star has been the dominant player on the WTA Tour for over a year now. Apart from holding onto the World No. 1 ranking for 74 consecutive weeks, Swiatek has set countless other records and achieved significant landmarks away from the court.
But even in the midst of her superiority over the field, Swiatek's Achilles heel remains the presence of power hitters who have always bulldozed past her in many matches since she came to the Tour a few years ago. One of them is Jelena Ostapenko who has a 100% winning record against her (3-0).
The pair are set to lock horns in an intriguing fourth-round match - their first meeting since February 2022, a few weeks before Swiatek rose to No. 1. Ostapenko is Swiatek's bogey opponent, we can attest to that. But what makes power so difficult to contend with? Swiatek perfectly sums up why that is the case.
"With Jelena, it's a little bit like one day she can play a perfect match and just put everything in even though she's really risking, and the other day can be different. You never know what to expect. But I kind of accept that you know, all these players are going to play the best tennis against me. I felt that a couple of times already."
By a couple of times, we cannot be wrong with our guesses here. The other player whom Swiatek is referencing here is Elena Rybakina who has defeated the Pole in two high-stakes meetings this year on hard courts - at the Australian Open and Indian Wells respectively.
But nevertheless, Swiatek admits she has learned a lot from adjusting to different surfaces and playing the most powerful hitters in the game. As she spoke during her presser, Ostapaneko was closing out her own win over Bernarda Pera.
"Well, in terms of the confidence, I always felt like I still need to kind of work on some technical and tennis skills to build up my confidence. You know, I learned a lot during these past two years how to play on faster hard courts and how to play against heavy hitters. It's not easy against her. We played a really tight match two years ago in Dubai. For sure I'm getting close."
0 Comments