Iga Swiatek's secret weapon? Adjusting to anything and everything - WTA Finals diary from Fort Worth
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Updated 04/11/2022 at 07:47 GMT
In her latest WTA Finals diary, Reem Abulleil talks to the person behind Iga Swiatek – her coach Tomasz Wiktorowski. He started coaching Swiatek at the start of this year and, together, the pair have had a spectacular season after triumphs at the French Open and US Open, plus a streak as world No. 1 which could go on for some time. Wiktorowski opens up on what makes Swiatek so good.
Swiatek 'has a drive inside of her' and is 'motivated by getting even better' - Wilander
Swiatek's coach tells all about Polish star
When Polish coach Tomasz Wiktorowski was approached by Iga Swiatek’s team end of last year to join her camp, he probably never imagined they would have as impressive of a season as they have had together in 2022.
The 21-year-old Swiatek has put together some staggering numbers this campaign, posting 66 victories against just eight losses, clinching eight titles, including two Grand Slams, and triumphing in 14 of her 15 matches against top-10 opponents.
“I try never to expect anything,” Wiktorowski told Eurosport on Thursday after Swiatek secured her place in the semis of the WTA Finals in Fort Worth with victory over Caroline Garcia.
“I just try to do my job as good as I can. I got the question from Iga’s team in December 2021, where do I see her next year? And I said why not number one in the world? And that was the time Ash Barty was still on tour but Iga already showed huge potential.
“For me it was maybe a little bit easier than some other people because I was commentating Iga’s matches for the previous two years, since I stopped working with Agnieszka Radwanska.
“I was able to see Iga playing and I was forced to analyse her game as a commentator. So I had a plan from the very beginning. But of course we know a plan without proper execution is nothing and Iga did everything really, really well this year, from the very beginning and then step by step until the end. And we’re not at the end yet.”
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US Open highlights: Swiatek battles past Jabeur to clinch third Grand Slam title in style
Swiatek is flexible
Wiktorowski says Swiatek already had 60-70 per cent of the game he had in mind for her and he didn’t have to change much when he joined the team. He cited some tweaks to her return game and said they did a lot of serve drills with lots of changing direction.
He notes the most important improvement in Swiatek is her ability to adjust to any condition or opponent on any given day.
“Every single tournament is different and you don’t have the same two tournaments during the year, only the court measurements are the same, everywhere we go, we need to adjust to something, that’s the biggest lesson for Iga; to be able to adjust her tennis to the next conditions and not the other way,” said the 41-year-old coach.
“She played against Daria Kasatkina [in the WTA Finals in Fort Worth on Tuesday], who moves amazing, she played with consistency, she was able to change the pace, she played high topspin and low balls with the speed, she changed serve directions and she’s almost not making any unforced errors.
“And then today, Iga played against a player [Garcia] who pushed from the very beginning, waits inside the court for the ball, who hits right behind the bounce, with really proper speed on the first serve, second serve super-fast; two completely different opponents, and she was able to find her way and she was able to implement the tactics.
“That’s what I’m pleased with the most, that Iga is flexible enough to compete with two players from the top eight this year, completely different players, and she’s able to use her tools, her strokes, her mind, her fitness, on the same court, but a little bit differently.”
Swiatek admits she doesn’t always agree with everything Wiktorowski asks her to do but that “usually he’s right”.
“When I’m not sure how I should play, in terms of tactical preparation, he is, I would say, a perfect coach,” said Swiatek. “But on the other hand I’m always going to be the person who is going to have something to say, but always in the back of mind – and I hope he knows that – I’m pretty sure that he’s right.”
Swiatek travels almost full-time with a sports psychologist, Daria Abramowicz, which is something Wiktorowski has probably never experienced to that extent in the past.
Asked how working so closely with a sports psychologist within the team has been like, Wiktorowski said: “If something works, we just need to keep it up and make sure that it’s going to work again and again and again.
“Of course we’re always looking for improvements. But so far, the information we’re receiving from this cooperation, we as a team, is very, very positive feedback and we have this feedback mostly from the results.”
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Swiatek: I'll be thinking about 2022 season for rest of my life
‘Make up your mind’
With the WTA season about to wrap up, most players, barring the ones competing in Fort Worth, are already focused on the upcoming season, making plans for their training blocks and are looking ahead to Australia.
There are many burning questions that arise when it comes to women’s tennis in 2023, including whether Naomi Osaka can recapture her top form and get back to being a force to be reckoned with on tour.
The four-time Grand Slam champion is currently ranked 42 in the world and only played 23 matches in 2022.
American legend Martina Navratilova, who is in Fort Worth fulfilling ambassadorial duties for the WTA Finals, was asked if she thought Osaka will return to being a serious factor on tour next season.
“God, I hope so, what is going on with her? She’s not playing at all,” said Navratilova.
“Maybe it was too much too soon. That’s when the gut-check comes, do you really love the sport? It’s the most important thing, you have to love the sport; it’s a tough sport. And now there’s so many more demands on people’s time, but at the same time you have a lot money so you can kind of control it and have people help you.
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Naomi Osaka a été éliminée dès le 1er tour de l'US Open par Danielle Collins.
Image credit: Getty Images
“Nowadays there’s so much more attention on everything that you do, you are under a microscope so everything is magnified. At the same time people forget about it, tomorrow they’re onto a new story, the next hour there’s breaking news. So you’re a flash in the pan and nothing is as big a deal as they make it out to be. It’s a big deal right now but in the afternoon there’s something else.
“So I think the players just really need to stay in the moment and if they love the sport, great, if they don’t, that’s okay too, do something else, that’s fine. But figure it out, make up your mind because time’s running out, you’re not getting any younger.”
Stats of the day
- Swiatek will be the first player to finish the year with over 10,000 points since Serena Williams in 2013.
- Swiatek has now won her last 14 consecutive top-10 matches – the second-longest streak against top-10 opposition on the WTA tour in the 2000s.
- Gauff committed 43 unforced errors across two sets in her 7-6(6), 6-3 defeat to Daria Kasatkina on Thursday.
- Gauff is 1-17 in matches in which she has lost the first set this season.
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