WTA: No worthy opponent for Iga Swiatek on the tour?
Iga Swiatek may have lost the final of the WTA Tour 500 tournament in Ostrava against Barbora Krejcikova. The Pole is still far above all other players. At least that's what her compatriot Agnieszka Radwanska thinks.
by tennisnet.com
last edit:
Oct 10, 2022, 08:03 pm
Iga Swiatek won't be able to find much time to analyze her defeat in the final against Barbora Krejcikova in Ostrava, she has already moved a little further and will be in Sand Diego this week. After a bye, she will definitely meet a player who has already won Wimbledon: Elena Rybakina a few months ago, Garbine Muguruza 2017.
Swiatek played 68 matches this year, winning 60 of them, resulting in a total of seven titles. Two of them came from majors: the one in Roland Garros was quite safe, at the US Open the still only 21-year-old had to work harder.
The winning streak also impressed Agnieszka Radwanska, Swiatek's compatriot who retired a few years ago.
"After the end of my adventure in professional tennis, I would not have thought that we would have such a dominant player so quickly," Radwanska said a few days ago on Polish television. “Iga is excellent. It's been number one for a while now. She plays a style of tennis at the highest level. At the moment there is no worthy competitor. Nobody is able to keep Iga's level for a long time. She has slips, like everyone else, but most opponents can only hope to win one set at most.”
Swiatek can only lose against itself
Which Radwanska doesn't think is great from a global perspective. "It's a bit of a shame that Iga doesn't have historically big matches like Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer did." The loss to Krejcikova in the final in Ostrava was only Swiatek's second in a final on the WTA tour.
Swiatek was helped by the success in Roland Garros in autumn 2020. According to Radwanska, Iga has matured and since then she has also entered the court much more confidently.
However, one should not forget that at the beginning of 2022 the number one for women was still Ashleigh Barty. “There was a gap at the top. Swiatek can dominate. I don't see any player who can play at eye level with her. In the long run, she can only lose to herself, which of course I do not wish on Iga.”