Iga Swiatek Shares Fitness Update Ahead of First Match After US Open Exit

Iga Swiatek will be bidding to win her third title of the season at the Korea Open, where she will also be making her debut.

Iga Swiatek Shares Fitness Update Ahead of First Match After US Open Exit

Iga Swiatek (Image via Punto de Break)

🔍 Explore this post with:

ChatGPTPerplexityGrok AIGoogle AI

Polish ace Iga Swiatek will be in action on September 17, in the second round of the Korea Open, also her first match since her defeat to eventual runner-up Amanda Anisimova in the quarterfinals of the US Open. Swiatek will be making her debut at the WTA 500 event in Seoul.

She was scheduled to make her debut last year when the tournament was upgraded from WTA 250 to WTA 500, but just a few days before the start of the event, the Pole chose to withdraw. She ended up missing two more WTA events, all due to her three-week provisional suspension after she failed the doping test.

The 24-year-old is the first seed and will start her campaign against the winner of the first-round match between Sorana Cirstea and Zhu Lin. Swiatek, who is chasing her third title of the season after her victory at Wimbledon and the Cincinnati Masters, gave an update on her fitness during the pre-tournament press conference.

I don’t think it makes sense to even think about the final already, and any girl can win this tournament. Great players come here. So, I’m just going to really take it step by step. Just think about my first match. I only came here yesterday, so I really need to use my time to just focus on here and now, and the practices and the first match.

Swiatek dismantled Anisimova 6-0, 6-0 in the Wimbledon final, following which she defeated Jasmine Paolini in Cincinnati. Wimbledon title was her first Major as well as her first title since her career’s fourth Roland Garros last year. Apart from these two events, the six-time Grand Slam champion also played her career’s first grass-court final at the Bad Homburg Open, losing the match in straight sets to Jessica Pegula.

We’ll see how I’m going to feel, how I’m going to play, and there are many players who can play in the final. So we’ll see. I haven’t been practicing a lot because I needed time to recover and to do everything to just be ready to play matches, so physically, I feel great. I feel like I need to practice some more, but I don’t have any pain or anything. It’s all good.

Iga Swiatek added

Swiatek is 53/13 this season. If she beats her first-round opponent, she could face 2024 Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova or 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu in the quarterfinals.

Will Iga Swiatek reach the World No.1 ranking if she wins the Korea Open?

Aryna Sabalenka would have lost her rankings had she suffered a defeat before reaching the quarterfinals of the US Open, and Iga Swiatek or Coco Gauff won the title. But Sabalenka continued to stay on top thanks to her title defense as she beat Amanda Anisimova in straight sets to take home her fourth title of the season.

Iga Swiatek (via X/The Tennis Letter)
Iga Swiatek (via X/The Tennis Letter)

The Belarusian leads the rankings by 3,292 points from second-ranked Swiatek, who has 7,933 points, while World No.3 Gauff has 7,874 points. Gauff and Sabalenka won’t be in action before the WTA 1000 China Open, which means Swiatek has a chance to close the rankings gap with Sabalenka.

Swiatek doesn’t have any points to defend, but even if she wins the WTA 500 Korea Open, it won’t be enough to dethrone the four-time Grand Slam singles champion. Sabalenka reclaimed her No.1 ranking last year on the back of successful campaigns on hard courts in the latter part of the season, as well as Swiatek missing two mandatory tournaments- the China Open and Wuhan Open- due to her doping suspension.

At the China Open, Gauff will be entering as the defending champion. Sabalenka will play the Wuhan Open as the defending champion.

Also read: Andrey Rublev’s Mother Advises Daniil Medvedev to Take a Break from Tennis After ‘Exhausting his Emotions’