Iga Swiatek: Next Polish superstar?

Who doesn't "hope she'll be playing for many more years to come". Learn to differentiate instead of chipping apart when someone gives your favorite player some honest criticism.
 
Rafa4GOAT said:
I also love the way Iga plays, and I share the hope that she’ll be playing for many years to come.
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Careful, or you too might invoke the wrath of

ArguMan! Who sees arguments where only ArguMan can.

awsomeman-1-78b31be68ae2bae16dbc7bb4c8ade7aacaadeae1.jpg
 
Chanwan said:
Tough to say just yet. Henin retired too early and would have been the favorite in 08 and a strong candidate the next few years after that. Iga is still developing, but I can def see Iga winning close to a handful of FO's as well and more than that wouldn't surprise me. Her forehand is money on clay. Your thoughts?
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This edition of RG will prove what the Polish star is made of.
It is not the same to enter the daw as a second fiddle and no pressure at all than to arrive as the defending champion and top favorite to win again in Paris.
If Iga defends her title, I think she can mark a golden age on clay courts in the decade that has just begun.
:)
 
DSH said:
This edition of RG will prove what the Polish star is made of.
It is not the same to enter the daw as a second fiddle and no pressure at all than to arrive as the defending champion and top favorite to win again in Paris.
If Iga defends her title, I think she can mark a golden age on clay courts in the decade that has just begun.
:)
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should she seek dual citizenship in USA ? in that way she can make a baby and it would help american tennis have another superstar protege
 
DSH said:
This edition of RG will prove what the Polish star is made of.
It is not the same to enter the daw as a second fiddle and no pressure at all than to arrive as the defending champion and top favorite to win again in Paris.
If Iga defends her title, I think she can mark a golden age on clay courts in the decade that has just begun.
:)
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Agree. It's not the end of the world if she loses, but winning again would be a massive statement
 
her forehand has declined

she needs to improve her serve and modify her technique if she wants to be a top player, for now she is limited only to slow clay
 
I noticed some “experts” at Cheap Shot Warehouse have condemned her failure to defend her RG singles title as a result of her “rash” decision to play both singles and dubs. I also noticed that one singles finalist is also a dubs SFist and will probably sub that dubs match in for a normal practice session on the day off between singles SFs and the final. There’s some kind of fly in that logical ointment, no?

Also, I’m pretty sure a Williams sister, maybe two, has (have) gone overtime multiple times at slams.
 
A player that only recent turned 20 (20 in modern day tennis is of course younger relatively speaking than in previous eras), winning a major one year, and then losing in the QF stage the next year (it’s not like she bombed out in the 1st or 2nd round), isn’t really a failure as far as I’m concerned.

Of course over-praise after winning and over-criticism after losing can become common-place. She’s still making very encouraging progress on the tour IMO.
 
Jason Swerve said:
Hello, sir. Has your Swiatek been "doing anything well"? Could it be you and these other jokers finally chose to snap on your thinking caps?
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Gizo said:
A player that only recent turned 20 (20 in modern day tennis is of course younger relatively speaking than in previous eras), winning a major one year, and then losing in the QF stage the next year (it’s not like she bombed out in the 1st or 2nd round), isn’t really a failure as far as I’m concerned.

Of course over-praise after winning and over-criticism after losing can become common-place. She’s still making very encouraging progress on the tour IMO.
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Exactly.
 
This has actually been a decent year for Swiatek. She has improved her ranking and qualified for the YEC. She also won a title on hard court apart from Rome masters. Sure she was underwhelming at RG with the pressure of being a defending champion but it's not a catastrophe by any means. It's a good consolidation to look to build on for 2022.
 
Frankly I don’t think she has improved since her RG win. That racquet switch definitely hampered her growth, she was playing wonderfully with the Prince. I watched her today and the serve still looks like a big hole in her game. Still good enough to be top 10 in this field but she has the tools to be even better.
 
Keizer said:
Frankly I don’t think she has improved since her RG win. That racquet switch definitely hampered her growth, she was playing wonderfully with the Prince. I watched her today and the serve still looks like a big hole in her game. Still good enough to be top 10 in this field but she has the tools to be even better.
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Wise guy said once, if you can't think well, don't think too much
 
volleyandfun said:
Wise guy said once, if you can't think well, don't think too much
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Let’s see her play a quality player on hard court. We all know she can beat top 20 players on any surface. But will she improve her scores against the likes of Barty and Osaka on hards? I see no evidence of that based on her performances through last season and her recent loss against Barty at Adelaide - all straight sets.
 
Keizer said:
Let’s see her play a quality player on hard court. We all know she can beat top 20 players on any surface. But will she improve her scores against the likes of Barty and Osaka on hards? I see no evidence of that based on her performances through last season and her recent loss against Barty at Adelaide - all straight sets.
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"her recent loss against Barty at Adelaide - all straight sets"
Looked bad, really? Second set lasted almost as a long as the entire Rybakina's match.
People see what they want to see, idiots see nothing, don't be one please.
Let’s see her play a quality player on hard court." I did, she beat Azarenka, who beat Badosa a day earlier. I suppose you didn't see that
 
volleyandfun said:
"her recent loss against Barty at Adelaide - all straight sets"
Looked bad, really? Second set lasted almost as a long as the entire Rybakina's match.
People see what they want to see, idiots see nothing, don't be one please.
Let’s see her play a quality player on hard court." I did, she beat Azarenka, who beat Badosa a day earlier. I suppose you didn't see that
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We've got different expectations for her, then. I consider her above Anisimova, Raducanu, Badosa, Kostyuk etc in talent. The only players I thought had similar potential were Gauff (if she fixed the FH) and Andreescu. Azarenka is a solid HC player and had a good result vs Badosa, but that was the first match of the season and Azarenka blows hot and cold these days so beating her doesn't really mean as much to me as it once would have.

Swiatek's original problem was spraying errors and she's fixed that to a large extent. She tightened up her backhand too and it is now a weapon on all surfaces. All those things happened before the 2021 season. The main technical issue continues to be the serve and I've seen no meaningful improvement in that area since RG 2020. Compare that to Sinner, who has the same weakness but is clearly working hard on improving it, including making the switch to platform stance. I'd like to see more from Swiatek in that area.
 
Keizer said:
We've got different expectations for her, then. I consider her above Anisimova, Raducanu, Badosa, Kostyuk etc in talent. The only players I thought had similar potential were Gauff (if she fixed the FH) and Andreescu. Azarenka is a solid HC player and had a good result vs Badosa, but that was the first match of the season and Azarenka blows hot and cold these days so beating her doesn't really mean as much to me as it once would have.

Swiatek's original problem was spraying errors and she's fixed that to a large extent. She tightened up her backhand too and it is now a weapon on all surfaces. All those things happened before the 2021 season. The main technical issue continues to be the serve and I've seen no meaningful improvement in that area since RG 2020. Compare that to Sinner, who has the same weakness but is clearly working hard on improving it, including making the switch to platform stance. I'd like to see more from Swiatek in that area.
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Her b/h was bigger weapon before that it is now. 2018 and 2019 she was hitting b/h winners at ease left and right and it's only now she is tighting up when she misses a few. I also respectfully disagree about her serve, many people have no clue but her serve stats @2018 WO junior win were almost the same as Serena's, I am not joking! Speed, aces etc. Those numbers were on official WO site, they may still be there. Last year her serve definitely sucked, but she cleaned it up now, I know it's still not perfect, but this time around she actually has a real coach and it can only get better.

I watched the whole Azarenka-Badosa match in Adelaide, Badosa played really well and tried very hard, Azarenka was just better. So putting Iga's win over Azarenka means a lot more than you give her credit for. In 2 set environment Azarenka can still beat anyone on h/c. And Iga played very well in the 1set!
 
volleyandfun said:
Her b/h was bigger weapon before that it is now. 2018 and 2019 she was hitting b/h winners at ease left and right and it's only now she is tighting up when she misses a few. I also respectfully disagree about her serve, many people have no clue but her serve stats @2018 WO junior win were almost the same as Serena's, I am not joking! Speed, aces etc. Those numbers were on official WO site, they may still be there. Last year her serve definitely sucked, but she cleaned it up now, I know it's still not perfect, but this time around she actually has a real coach and it can only get better.

I watched the whole Azarenka-Badosa match in Adelaide, Badosa played really well and tried very hard, Azarenka was just better. So putting Iga's win over Azarenka means a lot more than you give her credit for. In 2 set environment Azarenka can still beat anyone on h/c. And Iga played very well in the 1set!
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With her current form, Iga’s serve will never be even 50% of Serena’s. Like Sinner and Alcaraz, she can barely target the corners and her second serve is still awful. Serena’s serve would be Federer level of a guy had it, they’re not in the same dimension.
 
Keizer said:
With her current form, Iga’s serve will never be even 50% of Serena’s. Like Sinner and Alcaraz, she can barely target the corners and her second serve is still awful. Serena’s serve would be Federer level of a guy had it, they’re not in the same dimension.
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Yeah, it's not SPEED that makes Serena's serve special. Like Fed, Serena can hit all her serves with the same toss and, as you said, hits amazing spots. It's a combination of power and placement. Swiatek's serve is 'good'. But forget Serena, it's no match for Barty's or Osaka's. And if her third round match was anything to go by, not on a level with Anisimova's either.
 
Keizer said:
Frankly I don’t think she has improved since her RG win. That racquet switch definitely hampered her growth, she was playing wonderfully with the Prince. I watched her today and the serve still looks like a big hole in her game. Still good enough to be top 10 in this field but she has the tools to be even better.
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You aren't wrong. The serve is without doubt, the weakest part of her game. It's not all that important on clay, but on HCs and Grass, it'll prevent you from winning slams.
 
Iga is smoking these days. And I think she has plenty of room to improve. If she beefs up her net game and her slice shots she just might be ready for Ashley.
 
Keizer said:
Let’s see her play a quality player on hard court. We all know she can beat top 20 players on any surface. But will she improve her scores against the likes of Barty and Osaka on hards? I see no evidence of that based on her performances through last season and her recent loss against Barty at Adelaide - all straight sets.
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Do you see evidence of that now?
 
Keizer said:
Big wins for Iga recently. Dismissing some players on hard courts that she would’ve lost to before. #2 in the rankings and #1 in the race. Onwards and upwards!
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Yes, a tremendous turnaround after an underwhelming performance at AO. On the up and up and if Barty continues to play a light schedule, Swiatek is taking no. 1.
 
Just my theory but I think Iga's game is suited to slower courts whether hard or clay. Apparently the Indian Wells courts were gritty and slow and the AO courts were quite fast. Didn't hear about the courts in Qatar. Curious to see what happens in Miami. I hope she does well but then again she is probably due for an off week. It's got to be hard to stay on that highest level forever.
 
Friedman Whip said:
Just my theory but I think Iga's game is suited to slower courts whether hard or clay. Apparently the Indian Wells courts were gritty and slow and the AO courts were quite fast. Didn't hear about the courts in Qatar. Curious to see what happens in Miami. I hope she does well but then again she is probably due for an off week. It's got to be hard to stay on that highest level forever.
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I think Qatar was slow too. I am not going to count her out on faster hard courts but I would certainly want to see if her form translates to a USO type hard court. I think she does rely on the friction from clay or gritty hard courts for spin and the way the slams are set up, she will only get that at RG. The slam balance is almost back to 90s now though you would never know it from the bring back fast courts chant on TT.
 
Is Iga sure to be #1 now that Barty is retiring? Are Barty's points just going to disappear, and is there another player that can overtake Iga this week in Miami?
 
Pmasterfunk said:
Is Iga sure to be #1 now that Barty is retiring? Are Barty's points just going to disappear, and is there another player that can overtake Iga this week in Miami?
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Depends, I think players can choose whether to have their name immediately removed from the rankings or to just let their ranking slide down naturally.

Swiatek cannot be passed by anyone if she wins 1 round. Otherwise only Badosa could possibly pass her, but she'd have to win Miami
 
So it’s #1 for Iga. Great progress since we started talking about her in 2019. Now she needs to seal her dominance by ratcheting up her slam count. Will definitely be the favorite for RG and I’m hoping she will take that one to set herself up for a great second half of the season.
 
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