Iga Swiatek’s coach Tomasz Wiktorowski: I knew world No. 1 was destined for greatness, but not this quick

Iga Swiatek’s coach says he always expected the world No. 1 to achieve great things in tennis – but didn’t think she would hit such heights so quickly in 2022.

Tomasz Wiktorowski enjoyed remarkable success with Swiatek after only teaming up last December.

Swiatek took over as world No. 1 when Ashleigh Barty retired in March and dominated the WTA Tour, winning eight titles, including the French Open and US Open.

She also went on a century-best 37-match winning streak that ended with a defeat to Alize Cornet in the third round of Wimbledon.

“What I did know was that she was a player made for great tennis achievements.

“Iga showed that she was already a great player and she just needed a bit of redirection, a different training, approach, highlighting her strengths and a change in thinking – to think about what she can dominate, and not just focus on how to neutralise the strengths of her opponents.

“That’s what domination is, imposing your style of play. It is important that Iga implemented what I asked for very quickly. To be honest, I didn’t expect her to be able to put these little things on the court so quickly. It was really little things, such as forehand swing correction, return settings or the ratio of the direction of the shot.

“I was surprised that these little things were introduced so quickly. In turn, thanks to the fact that good results came quickly, it was also easier for me later. We built trust and were able to move forward based on that.”

Swiatek finished the season with a 67-9 win-loss record.

Wiktorowski highlighted the Cornet defeat at Wimbledon as one of two matches he felt Swiatek could have won this year.

“I am most happy with how Iga made decisions on the court, with her responsibility,” he said.

“At the beginning of the year, we decided to show her more aggressive tennis. Aggressiveness can be introduced through ball speed, pace and direction. Iga started making really good decisions about when to speed up, from which balls, how much speed up and in which direction.

“At the same time, she retained responsibility for what she does. This responsibility was absent in her match against Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-finals of the WTA Finals and against Alize Cornet in the third round of Wimbledon. These are two matches in which Iga played ‘irresponsibly’.

“She lost nine matches all season. Seven were just a better performance from a rival and Iga’s being average. In turn, those two matches with Sabalenka and Cornet were winnable. They lacked an element of responsibility for the decisions taken.

“However, in the rest of the matches this season, decision-making has been at a very high level.”

Swiatek was a level above her rivals for almost all of the season.

She has a 6,000-point lead in the rankings over world No. 2 Ons Jabeur and will be a heavy favourite to win a fourth Grand Slam title when the 2023 Australian Open rolls around in January.

Wiktorowski said he was impressed with how Swiatek managed to maintain such a high standard throughout the year.

“There were no major slips throughout the season, and a ‘slip’ can be called matches where she lost. But there were few of them, and there is no sport without defeats. Everything else was at a level previously only dreamed of.

“This year, Iga managed to stay at a level, not just hit the peak. Reaching such a peak is easy – although for some of course it is unattainable. Reaching two or three peaks of form in a season is easier than maintaining them. This is something amazing in modern tennis, in sport in general, where the intensity of starts is very high.

“Iga was able to transfer her form to the court. And yet the circumstances are different everywhere we go: balls, courts, weather conditions, crowds. There are plenty of variables.

“Iga maintained her effectiveness by adapting to the conditions she had to face, instead of trying – which is common among players and it is a trap – to adapt all conditions to what she expects.

“I am also proud of the fact that we have managed to introduce a mindset that assumes that we are not going for a decent result, but for a win, the bar is set as high as possible. We are doing everything in our power to achieve this, and whether we succeed is another thing.”

Swiatek will soon be back in action at the World Tennis League in Dubai alongside WTA Finals champion Caroline Garcia, Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev and Nick Kyrgios.

She will then head to Australia to compete in the inaugural United Cup for Poland and may also play in Adelaide ahead of the Australian Open, which starts on January 16.

Swiatek made the semi-finals in Melbourne earlier this year and will be hoping to go further in 2023.

– – –