Iga Swiatek had the best season of her career and became the twenty-eighth player able to reach the first position of the WTA rankings on May 2nd. The Pole captured six tournaments in a row, including the WTA 1000 events in Indian Wells, Miami and Rome and Roland Garros, and opened a 37 match winning streak from February 22 to June 30.
Only Alize Cornet has ended her incredible record in the third round of Wimbledon. Tomasz Wiktorowski, current coach of Swiatek, certainly represents one of the secrets of her unstoppable rise. By now we have to get into the perspective that tennis has changed.
Power and physique often make the difference to innate talent. Therefore, if a tennis player decides to make the most of his weapons, that’s right. Iga Swiatek wants to win, not play well, and his coach is right to say this.
“Iga is not looking for performance but for victory”
Wiktorowski explained in an interview with sport.pl: “We planned physical training in Warsaw. Then in mid-December we will fly to Dubai where we will focus on tennis related matters.
Iga has maintained a very high level throughout the year. This is extraordinary in modern tennis. In strictly tennis terms, the stroke that sha has improved the most is her service: the numbers confirm this. I am happier with how Iga has made decisions on the court, with her responsibilities.
At the beginning of the year we decided to play more aggressive tennis. Aggression can be introduced through the speed, pace and direction of the ball. I am proud of the fact that we have managed to develop a mentality that is not looking for good performance but for victory.
Three or four years ago it seemed to me that we were going in the direction of a very physical but at the same time technical tennis. Only the number two in the world, Ons Jabeur, has very interesting tennis. Also number four, Caroline García: she plays a lot at the net, has a varied serve.
Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff, on the other hand, are one of the best couples, but technical flaws are noticeable in them.” Finally, Wiktorowski focused on the difficulties encountered by Swiatek on grass: “For now, we focus on the beginning of the year. There will come a time when we will start thinking about the season on grass.”
