Swiatek: "I have been working on my serve, my forehand, and my footwork"

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After Aryna Sabalenka's withdrawal from the Doha WTA 1000, Iga Swiatek has become the number one seed. Following a tough defeat in the Australian Open quarterfinals against Elena Rybakina, the Polish tennis player arrives in Qatar eager to make amends, implementing several changes that could be key to claiming the trophy.

The number two in the WTA rankings has not been able to display her best game on fast courts, but this is her favorite tournament, winning three times in a row from 2022 to 2024. Therefore, there are three factors she believes are crucial to improve in order to win a title again five months after her last victory in Seoul. "I have been working on my serve, my forehand, and my footwork. Here, you can't wait for the ball to come to you. Certainly, I am improving the stability of my serve and rotating more," she confessed in the press conference before her debut against Janice Tjen.

Swiatek struggled a lot with her serve in her match against Rybakina, suffering three service breaks in just 19 games. Additionally, she endured another nine breaks in the rest of the tournament despite dropping only one set (against Kalinskaya), something uncommon on fast courts. When combined with the minimal damage she was doing with her forehand, it is understandable that Iga has stepped up her game to try to reverse the situation and become more aggressive in upcoming tournaments.

Swiatek explains how she has changed her stroke movements

"There are different body parts you can focus on when rotating. I am doing some things differently, but at the same time, I move the elbow back more or drive the hips more forward. It's not a movement change, but the intention you seek when making the movement. Occasionally, you always have to remember things like that in tennis. The same with the backhand, the same with the forehand. I feel I need to focus more on that," she acknowledged.

Women's tennis has evolved to a point where Swiatek can't just rely on playing deep and being fast on the court, as styles like those of Sabalenka or Rybakina can cause her a lot of trouble, as seen. On clay courts, it's a different story, but on these types of surfaces, something has to change, as she has done. Now it remains to be seen if that is enough in a tournament where injuries and withdrawals have cleared the way for one of the top favorites.

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Swiatek: "He estado trabajando en mi saque, mi derecha y mi juego de pies"