Iga Świątek(3)

National representation

Junior competitions

Świątek represented Poland at the ITF World Junior Tennis Finals for 14-and-under girls twice in 2014 and 2015. She won all of her matches in 2014 to lead Poland to a ninth-place finish out of 16 teams. The following year, she helped Poland go undefeated in the round robin stage to reach the semi-finals.[11][12] Świątek moved up to the 16-and-under Junior Fed Cup in 2016, where she played alongside Maja Chwalińska and Stefania Rogozińska-Dzik. Poland won the title, defeating the United States 2–1 in the final. Świątek won both of her rubbers in the final tie, defeating Amanda Anisimova in singles before partnering with Chwalińska to defeat Caty McNally and Claire Liu in the decisive doubles rubber.[103] The last event of Świątek's junior career was the 2018 Summer Youth Olympic Games. Although she lost in the quarterfinals in singles to Clara Burel,[104] she partnered with Slovenian Kaja Juvan to win the gold medal in doubles. In the final they defeated Naito and Sato, who were also Świątek's opponents in the French Open doubles final earlier in the year.

Billie Jean King Cup

Świątek made her senior Billie Jean King Cup debut in 2018 when Poland was in Europe/Africa Zone Group I.[b] To advance out of this group, Poland needed to win their round-robin group, a play-off tie against one of the other round robin group winners, and then another play-off tie as part of the separate World Group II Play-off round. They did not win their round-robin group in 2018 or 2019. Świątek won her only singles match in 2018. While she only won one of her three singles matches in 2019, she won both of her doubles rubbers while partnering with Alicja Rosolska. The following year, the format was changed so that Poland only needed to finish in the top two out of three teams in their round-robin group to reach the promotional play-off. Nonetheless, they won their group and defeated Sweden 2–0 in the play-off to advance to the separate Play-off round. Świątek won all three of her singles matches in the 2020 Europe/Africa Zone Group I round,[106] before skipping the Play-offs themselves.[107] The following edition in 2022 had Poland facing Romania in the qualifying round, with Świątek winning her two games to help the team move on to the Finals.[108] However, she did not attend the finals because the decisive round started very soon after the 2022 WTA Finals.[109] The rib injury Świątek encountered shortly after exiting the 2023 Indian Wells Open also caused her to miss Poland's 2023 Billie Jean King cup qualifier against Kazakhstan in Astana.[110] Overall, Świątek has a 9–3 record at the Fed Cup, comprising 7–2 in singles and 2–1 in doubles.[106] In 2024, Świątek participated in a match against Switzerland winning two matches in singles and contributing to Poland's 4–0 win, which secured the country's place in November's Finals in Seville for a third consecutive year.

Playing style

Świątek has an aggressive, all-court style of play and incorporates a lot of variety into her game. Because her game style is focused on offence, she typically generates high amounts of both winners and unforced errors.[30][112][113] She has described her style of play on clay as "a big serve, topspin, and backhand down the line".[6] Despite her aggressive style of play, she plays with margin, and constructs points carefully until she creates an opportunity to hit a winner, and in all seven of her matches played at the 2020 French Open, she hit more winners than unforced errors. In total at the French Open that year, she hit 175 winners to 127 unforced errors. The basis of Świątek's game was described by tennis journalist Christopher Clarey for The New York Times as: her sliding ability, allowing her to defend from the corners à la Kim Clijsters and Novak Djokovic, a "sprinter's speed" when moving forward to the net, power and topspin akin to her idol Rafael Nadal, and mental strength forged through sports psychology.[114]

Her forehand and backhand are fast and powerful, with her forehand being hit with significant topspin due to her employing an extreme western grip; on her run to the title at the French Open in 2020, Świątek's average forehand speed was 73 mph (117 km/h), only 4 km/h below that of the average male forehand speed. She even hit some forehands up to 79 mph (127 km/h), the fastest of any female player in the draw and exceeded only by Jannik Sinner on the men's side. Her forehand topspin reached 3,453 rpm at the French Open, comparable with her idol Rafael Nadal.[115] Świątek's backhand speed peaked at 76 mph (122 km/h) at the French Open, the fastest of any female player in the draw, and equal to Dominic Thiem's backhand speed, the fastest of any male player at the French Open.

Świątek aims to come to the net, and has good volleying skills due to her doubles experience.[118] Świątek possesses an accurate first serve, peaking at 114 mph (183 km/h), and averaging at 103 mph (166 km/h), allowing her to serve aces, dictate play from the first stroke, and win a majority of first-serve points. She possesses an effective kick serve, and an effective slice serve, which are deployed as second serves, preventing opponents from scoring free points. She also regularly uses the drop shot, and won the 2019 WTA Shot of the Year with a cross-court drop shot from the baseline that landed on the sideline well inside the service box.[26][119] Świątek aims to gain the advantage in a point by hitting the ball early on the rise.[118] Further strengths include her exceptional speed, movement, and court coverage, detailed and intricate footwork, and intelligent point construction. Her favourite surface is clay, having grown up playing on that surface, although she has had success on all surfaces.[120] Her clay court success is enhanced by her ability to slide on the surface; as her career has progressed, she has also developed the ability to slide on hard and grass courts, too.[citation needed]

Świątek is a very popular player on the WTA Tour. She finished runner-up to Simona Halep in the voting for the WTA Fan Favorite Singles Player of the Year award in 2019.[121] In 2020, she was voted the WTA Fan Favorite Singles Player of the Year.

Coaching team

Świątek's primary coach in her early junior years was Michał Kaznowski, who she worked with up to the 2016 French Open.[10][123] Jolanta Rusin-Krzepota was her physical preparation trainer for almost four years through the end of the 2019 US Open.[124] Świątek was coached by Piotr Sierzputowski beginning in 2016.[125] While Sierzputowski was her coach, British former professional tennis player and former Polish Davis Cup coach Nick Brown also served as a main consultant on occasion.[126] Świątek also works with sports psychologist Daria Abramowicz and fitness trainer/physiologist Maciej Ryszczuk.[127][128][129][130]

In December 2021, Świątek announced that she was splitting from Sierzputowski after nearly six years working together. She wrote, "This change is really challenging for me, and this decision wasn't easy, either". Świątek had hired Sierzputowski when she was 15 and still playing in junior tournaments.[131] Her current coach is Tomasz Wiktorowski, who previously coached Agnieszka Radwańska.