Mats Wilander thinks Iga Swiatek deviates too far from her natural playing style outside of clay courts and should copy her idol Rafael Nadal by playing clay-court tennis on other surfaces.
Swiatek's form has dipped since winning her fourth French Open title in June. She lost in the Wimbledon third round to Yulia Putintseva, who became inspired to overcome the World No. 1 at SW19.
The Pole's weakest Grand Slam throughout her career has been Wimbledon. Although her loss to Putintseva was disappointing, expectations of her were higher before Tennis at the Olympics held at Roland-Garros.
Swiatek was the overwhelming favorite to win gold in the Olympic women's singles. However, she suffered a brutal defeat to the eventual gold medalist Qinwen Zheng. The Pole claimed a bronze medal, but it was scant consolation.
The World No. 1's first tournament after the Olympics was at the Cincinnati Open. Swiatek progressed to the semifinal before losing to Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets for the first time in her career in the fast Cincinnati conditions.
Despite those recent losses, Swiatek feels good ahead of the US Open. She was the defending champion last year, and the 23-year-old is happy not to be carrying that baggage before the tournament this year.
The US Open women's draw was made on Thursday. Swiatek's first match is against Kamilla Rakhimova. Her opponent is a lucky loser, meaning it is a perfect draw for the Pole on paper.
Nonetheless, seven-time major winner Mats Wilander thinks Swiatek is vulnerable right now. He told Eurosport that her recent setbacks on three different surfaces are concerning ahead of a massive tournament like the US Open.
"We actually really did think that she was going to have a really good chance to win Wimbledon. Of course, she was going to the Olympics on her favourite surface, on her favourite stadium, and she didn’t win. And now she didn’t win in Cincinnati, which, again, is not her favourite surface. It plays very fast."
"So I think she’s showing that she’s vulnerable not only on hard courts and grass, but even on clay courts at the Olympics. There’s a moment of concern. I think she’s still searching."
Some may be surprised that Wilander felt Swiatek had a great chance of winning Wimbledon. She had not played tournaments on grass before Wimbledon started, and it always felt like the Olympics afterward was a bigger and more realistic goal for her.
However, he is right about Swiatek losing some matches recently on different surfaces. Wilander thinks the World No. 1 should try to play the same way she does on clay on hard courts, as Rafael Nadal often did in the past.
"To me she needs to start thinking about, ‘how do I win tennis matches on clay and try to play like that on other surfaces, and realising I am never going to win as much on hard court and grass than I have at Roland Garros."
"“Just look at her big idol, Rafael Nadal. He did exactly that. He won a lot of tournaments trying to play clay-court tennis, most of the matches. And she needs to get back to playing like she does at Roland Garros. If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work, but that’s where she’s comfortable. The style of tennis is what she needs to get back to playing.”
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