“She’s the favorite in every tournament,” Tennis legend makes bold prediction about Iga Swiatek and her future Grand Slam count

Tennis legend John Mcenroe talks about Iga Swiatek, hurt about no future rivalry with Ash Barty.

“She’s the favorite in every tournament,” Tennis legend makes bold prediction about Iga Swiatek and her future Grand Slam count

John McEnroe, Iga Swiatek and Ash Barty.

American tennis legend John McEnroe has made his statements about Iga Swiatek and the future of women’s tennis. In a recent interview, he has spoken about the void created by Ash Barty’s retirement as well. The 7-times grand slam champion opined that Ash Barty would have been the perfect match-up for Iga Swiatek and the rivalry would have lightened up women’s tennis as a whole.

McEnroe quoted, “Just not having that rival, I believe it hurts the sport, and there’s reasons that we can’t get into, there are a lot of reasons, there’s never one reason, and there’s no one for Ash Barty either, but hopefully everyone will look at things to make sure that these women on the tour are being taken care of to the best of their ability so they feel as comfortable as possible doing their thing“.

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Ashleigh Barty vs. Iga Swiatek | 2022 Adelaide 500 Semifinal | WTA Match Highlights

Iga Swiatek’s one-woman show at the top of the realm was also talked about in detail by him. “I think right now she’s by far and away the best player, she’s a fantastic athlete, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a young woman get to slide into the corners, it reminds me of Novak quite a bit. So I would be surprised if she didn’t win a couple more French Opens at least, and she’s learned to play on hard courts so there’s no question that she’s the favorite in every tournament she plays.” (Source: TennisUpToDate)

Related: “Reminds me of Novak quite a bit,” John McEnroe compares Iga Swiatek’s athleticism to Novak Djokovic

Iga Swiatek’s potential competitors on the tour

Iga Swiatek

After the shocking retirement of 2022 Australian Open champion Ash Barty in march 2022, the WTA tour witnessed almost a “one-woman show” of the 21-year-old Polish World No.1 Iga Swiatek. Her 2022 dominance resembles the prime of Serena Williams. She finished the season with a whopping number of 8 singles titles out of 17 she played including two Grand Slams.

The Polish had surpassed 11000 points last season. The difference between her and the second-ranked Tunisian Ons Jabeur is more than the total points of the Tunisian. This difference itself shows the dominance the Polish had on the tour this season. Her win-loss record is 67-9 this season.

World No.2 Ons Jabeur who has 2 singles titles last season will have to come up with a lot better strategy in 2023 to cope with the Polish. Apart from Ons, World No.3 Jessica Pegula will also be trying to challenge Iga. She has already beaten the Polish this season in the United Cup. 23-year-old from Kazakhstan– Elena Rybakina who plays the best on grass will try to retain her maiden Wimbledon title next year despite going below the top-20 in the rankings. She won her exhibition match against Swiatek in Dubai this season.

World No.5 Aryna Sabalenka will be also trying hard like how she defeated the Polish in the semi-finals of the WTA Finals 2022. Another player to watch out for next year will be French World No.4 Caroline Garcia who won WTA Finals last season. US teen Coco Gauff and Japanese former World No.1 Naomi Osaka will also be recharging the batteries for a better 2023.

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