Eager Iga Swiatek just too slick at the Australian Open
Iga Swiatek continues to assert her dominance on the WTA Tour as she reaches the fourth round of the 2023 Australian Open, yet to drop a set.
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Iga Swiatek - IMAGO/AAP
Iga Swiatek, the name invokes awe and admiration. The World No.1 from Warsaw, Poland, added one more dimension to her game, a ruthless one, on Friday, as she whacked Spanish qualifier Cristina Bucsa 6-1, 6-1 in the third round of the 2023 Australian Open. The season’s first Grand Slam has witnessed bombing and seeds being bumped out plus favorites struggling to find the rhythm.
Both, in men’s and women’s sections, the pattern has been noticeable, where the stronger players are struggling. It made for great viewing, no doubt, whether it is a fired-up Novak Djokovic winning or Sir Andy (Murray) singing a lullaby to ball boys and girls at 4 am after finishing a match. Iga has had no such problems and looks in most murderous form, inching ahead like a bulldozer, not willing to relent. She won two Grand Slam titles in 2022.
The predictions are, there is more in her destiny in 2023. Predictions seem to be coming true as the five feet and nine-inch tall Polish girl was in spite-and-shine polish form against the Spaniard, her dominance from the backcourt resembling the good old baseline barons who dominated slower clay courts and medium fast hard courts.
That Iga needed just 55 minutes to romp through on Friday showed she has plenty of gas left in her tank. At this edition of the AO, where players have expanded plenty of energy, Iga has looked in laser-sharp form. Her game is simple and drilled well in fundamentals. Her serve is smart, and the court coverage is efficient. Where she looks so imposing in the short rallies is with her rich tapestry of shots, the range and depth resembling impeccability.
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Iga Swiatek takes on Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina next
Her forehand is bludgeon and with the backhand, she shows a variety, wherein, she can go down the line, across, and change the trajectory of shots with minimum fuss. Iga is eager and there is everything to suggest she does not want to give too much time for her opponents to decode her game. She is the same girl, who, in 2022, was being compared with Martina Hingis for winning like a machine.
Then came a slump, a drop, when the streak ended. They say the bubble had to burst, and it happened at The Championships at Wimbledon in 2022. In 2023, she looks like the well-tuned Ferrari, straight out of the ‘pits’ ready to roar like a beast and lap it up. Well, one is not talking about the Prancing Horse in beast mode burning laps but a human powering her way through as if she cannot be stopped.
Yes, Iga does return to the chair during a changeover but other than that she is an ace and pace in her domain of tennis. Winner of the French and US Open titles in 2022. Iga will face Wimbledon title-holder Elena Rybakina for a place in the quarter-finals in Melbourne. What came as surprising was when Iga said she wanted to find some more “intensity.” Was it like a Ferrari in warm-up laps in qualifying and then going into the shootout, Iga knows best.
As it is, she has intimidated opponents and shown her ruthless streak and desire to charge ahead. Her tunnel vision is there to see, with a third Major in sight. “I knew she can be solid so I didn’t really want to let her come back,” said Swiatek, who made her Australian Open debut in 2019.
On her tactics, said Iga: “I’m glad that I was really disciplined and just focusing on my tactics. And yeah, I felt like I’m moving into the flow. So that was nice,” added Swiatek. Last year, she had her best result at Melbourne Park, losing to Danielle Collins in the semi-finals.
After exiting Wimbledon in the third round to end her 37-match win streak, Iga Swiatek ignored the tournament on TV and claimed she did not see Rybakina win. “I didn’t really watch Wimbledon after I lost. I had holidays, so it wasn’t smart for me to watch tennis,” Swiatek said!
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S Kannan
(382 Articles Published)