Iga Swiatek is hoping to bounce back after her disappointment at only picking up the bronze medal at the Paris Olympics.
Iga Swiatek is becoming increasingly accustomed to being dubbed the favorite at most tournaments she plays in.
However, after her 25-match unbeaten streak at Roland Garros was quelled by Qinwen Zheng, the world number one is managing expectations ahead of her first hard-court match since March.
A week after Swiatek was narrowly beaten by Jessica Pegula in the semi-finals of the Montreal Open last year, she went on to also reach the last four in Cincinnati where she was defeated by Coco Gauff.
The Pole later lost her spot at number one after crashing out of the US Open in the last 16, before regaining top spot before the end of the year after wins in Beijing and at the WTA Finals in Mexico.
Having only just dusted off the red-clay from her shoes, Swiatek will be craving a quick start in Cincinnati, as she eyes up her second US Open title.
However, while the winds have swirled in Montreal and after Daniil Medvedev suggested the tennis balls are flying about more than usual, Swiatek will have plenty to get her head around if she is to find some early joy in the mid-west.
Iga Swiatek explains what she thinks about the new tennis balls in Cincinnati
Her last hard court match came in her shock defeat to Ekaterina Alexandrova at the Miami Open.
With a fourth French Open title coming in between, Swiatek is bracing herself for even quicker conditions in Cincinnati given its return to ‘Regular Duty’ Wilson tennis balls.
“Last year we tested Wilson’s Heavy Duty and this year we came back to Regular Duty,” Swiatek explained to Tennis.com, “We haven’t played with these particular balls in, like, two years, which is just another thing to think about when you go out on court for us players because we’re obviously thinking about these things.
“They’re lighter, they lose their heaviness after a while because the hair from the ball is gone after about 15 minutes,” she continued. “I played with these in 2022, and so I need to kind of remember how it was.
“With all the changes with the surface and the balls, you can’t just expect to make constant progress. You need to focus on adjusting, and that’s what I’ll do now.”
Who might stand in Iga Swiatek’s way in Cincinnati?
The brutal American hard court season is historically incredibly competitive, with a lot of the WTA Tour visibly more comfortable and confident on the surface.
Both Swiatek’s semi-final conquerors from last year’s hard court run feature in Cincinnati, with Pegula more-so than Gauff, already exhibiting some aggressive and resourceful tennis.
Gauff’s early exit to Diana Shnaider in Toronto was put down to her lack of hard court game time, despite the tournament also being her opponents first of the season.
A possible match-up with Jelena Ostapenko, who Swiatek has never beaten in their four meetings, could come towards the end of the tournament.
While a test run, I think the week off, matched with the disappointment in Paris, is only going to create a renewed, fiery Swiatek, desperate to find her feet early ahead of the US Open.
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