‘More complete game’: The ominous warning from world No.1 before Australian Open assault

The last time Iga Swiatek dropped a set was the start of October, against Caroline Garcia. It was the quarter-finals of the China Open and the world No.1 was en route to winning the tournament, but she first had to overcome the hurdle of going 1-0 down to the Frenchwoman via a tie-breaker. She righted the ship, taking the second set on another tie-breaker and then the third 6-1.

On Saturday in Sydney, Swiatek finally dropped another set, again the first of a match against Garcia. Then, as if by magic, she flicked the switch and won the second two. The scoreline this time was a more convincing 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 and helped Poland book a spot in Sunday night’s United Cup final. But the manner and swiftness with which the 22-year-old tidied up her game was something of a statement one week out from her next Australian Open tilt.

“I would say mentally I needed to make a big adjustment because I was impatient,” Swiatek said after her win, which followed the straight-sets victory of Poland teammate Hubert Hurkacz over France’s Adrian Mannarino on Ken Rosewall Arena.

“And sometimes I made bad decisions, and I needed to focus a little bit more because I felt my mind was kind of going elsewhere. After the break, after the first set, I came back more composed and focused. I’m really happy about that because … it’s not natural [as a reaction]. So I’m pretty proud of myself today.”

Swiatek has never reached the final at Melbourne Park, with her best result a semi-final appearance in 2022. In January 2023, having already spent more than nine months atop the WTA rankings, she appeared primed to go all the way in the season’s first major, only to fall in the round of 16 to eventual runner-up Elena Rybakina. Now though, a big assault feels almost inevitable.

Last year, Swiatek added a third French Open trophy to her cabinet to finish 2023 with four grand slams (also including the 2022 US Open). This week – her 84th over two spells as world No.1 – the fruits of a settled off-season have been on display to the tune of four United Cup singles wins for Poland, first in Perth and now in Sydney.

Iga Swiatek taking on Caroline Garcia in Sydney.Credit: Getty

She has not lost a match since falling to Veronika Kudermetova in the Tokyo quarter-finals in September, and subsequently won that 1000-level title in Beijing and then the season-ending WTA Finals in Cancun. Now her streak stands at 15 matches – the second-longest of her career.

But those numbers only grow when supported by form, and Swiatek has been utilising the off-season to tweak her game with her coach Tomasz Wiktorowski, including working on some technical elements of her service action and diversifying her repertoire of shots.

“I played two volleys in today and also one drive volley, so that’s something that wasn’t so often [seen] before,” she said. “This is something that we worked on: me going forward a little bit and not always staying on the baseline.

“It’s something that we’ve been working with the coach actually since we started, but now I’m taking more shots from the air. So I’m happy that I feel like ... I’m going to be a player that has a more complete game than before. So for sure it’s a step forward.”

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