Once again, it was Iga Swiatek who had the last laugh. The Polish tennis ace won back-to-back titles after winning the Italian Open last week. Swiatek is on a stellar run and defeated Aryna Sabalenka in the summit clash. One of the matches apart from the finals that caught the attention of the tennis fraternity was Swiatek’s match against Coco Gauff. The two are building up an epic rivalry that has a long way to go. In this regard, Swiatek made an interesting comparison between herself and Gauff.
Like Gauff, Swiatek also has a big weakness in her game. Service is one thing which the Polish star isn’t the greatest at. Despite this, she doesn’t let her opponents take advantage of her weak serve. During the WTA Insider Podcast, she highlighted why this flaw has minimal impact on the result of her games, unlike Gauff.
Swiatek revealed, “Well, the thing is that even if I’m not the greatest server, nobody can kind of push it, you know, because it’s the only shot we play on our own. So I don’t feel like anybody has any, like, influence besides me on it. When I’m, you know, on court like the opening. They can, I don’t know, maybe return better, but it’s not that easy to do that as well.”
Further, she added, “So, the serve I feel like I can, you know, say straightforwardly that I’m just gonna work on it and it’s gonna get better. Maybe it’s not perfect, but I don’t feel like it’s you know my weakness in terms of somebody can use it because that’s the only shot we are doing on our own without the impact of you know other players, unless you make crazy moves on returning with your feet.”
Gauff’s serve as we know has been extensively examined by tennis pundits, especially in recent weeks. Things got especially bad during this clay season as the young American confessed she had been making technical changes to improve it. While she has her eyes on the long-term plan, some immediate losses are to be expected. Swiatek, certainly, is handling it better.
Meanwhile, tennis legend Martina Navratilova identified this weakness in Swiatek’s game. Subsequently, she devised a plan for her opponents to defeat Swiatek.
How can unstoppable Iga Swiatek be stopped?
With the French Open looming, Swiatek is on cloud 9 with back-to-back wins in Madrid and Italy. As a result, she is a strong favorite to win the title in Paris. However, Swiatek’s weakness of her service was pointed out by Navratilova who gave specific tips to her opponents to take her down.
Navratilova said, “But she’s just putting it all on service right now, and once she gets ahead, watch out. So I would be thinking about only the first four games if I’m playing her. I gotta say it to all or better. Once she gets ahead, good luck.”
To some reporters, the WTA great even compared the Pole to her greatest rival/ friend in tennis, calling Swiatek “Chris Evert-like”, “That topspin drives you nuts, and I think she moves as good as anybody…She’s got the consistency and the major wins. That’s why she’s been No 1 for so long.”
Players like Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka will be all ears to Navratilova’s tactics as they aim to stop Swiatek from clinching a hat-trick of titles. Nonetheless, with the form Swiatek is in, it will prove to be a monumental task for anyone to stop her on her favorite surface.
