Iga Swiatek Admits She Can’t Watch Live Tennis Matches Without Analysis

Iga Swiatek has not had her best season this year, but she’s one of the best technical players on the women’s circuit. In fact, that has led her to change tactics too often during matches on tour. She has admitted that she loves to analyze tennis, and even while watching matches for fun, she finds it hard to stop analyzing.

Swiatek is known for her well-drilled tactical style on the court. She doesn’t have the best of serves like her rivals Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina, but she uses her backhand and forehand shots to put pressure on her opponents, which forces them to spray unforced errors and double faults.

Not only her, but the likes of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner are known for such a tactical approach. Whilst Alcaraz is pretty much unpredictable on the court, Sinner plays like a machine, playing at a given pace and style. They also love to analyze tennis and their opponents’ tactical flaws.

Novak Djokovic has on many occasions hinted that players who are good at analyzing the sport on their own go on to become good players. The Serbian legend termed it Tennis IQ. Meanwhile, Swiatek isn’t in her best form, but was one of the players to beat on tour from 2022 to 2024.

She opened her account at the Italian Open with a hard-fought win over Caty McNally on Friday (May 8). After the tie, she was asked whether she loves analyzing matches even when she’s not competing in the tournament. The Polish star admitted that while watching Alcaraz and Djokovic’s Australian Open final, she could not restrain herself from analyzing the match:

Honestly, I wish I could just be a fan. It’s hard not to analyze or compare, although with men, it’s different, what you would do, how they’re playing, or what they might be feeling. I usually try to draw inspiration from the match and learn something.

Swiatek exited the Madrid Open in the third round due to food poisoning. However, she climbed to World No.3 as Coco Gauff failed to defend her runner-up finish at the tournament.

Iga Swiatek says she needs to play more matches to get into form ahead of the French Open

Iga Swiatek seemed to be cruising when she led 6-1, 3-1 against Caty McNally in the second round of the Italian Open. But after that, she let her guard slip, squandering three break points to go up 4-1, which then led to cheap unforced errors, and from that point, the momentum swung over to McNally’s side as she claimed the second set.

Swiatek had regained her rhythm in the third set, winning the match 6-1, 6(5)-7, 6-3 after two hours and 43 minutes on the court. After the win, Swiatek admitted during her press conference that she hopes to play in more matches before Roland Garros, as she needs to reach her top form before the Grand Slam event:

Yes, I definitely wanted to play more matches. It’s something I feel I lack. I want to compete more. There are moments during matches where it’s clear that I’m a bit lacking rhythm in certain point situations. I think I need more matches to gain confidence in different scenarios. I’m happy to have won today because it gives me another chance.

Swiatek has not gone beyond the quarter-finals of any tournament this season. The World No.3 has struggled with form this year and has been largely inconsistent. She has won just three matches on clay this season. The 24-year-old has the opportunity to win her fourth match against Elisabetta Cocciaretto.

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