Former Wimbledon finalist Agnieszka Radwanska believes no other player on the women’s Tour has the consistency to match that of Iga Swiatek.
Radwanska, who peaked at a career-high of No.2 back in 2012, has hailed the achievements of her compatriot during what has been a breakout season. Earlier in the year Swiatek won 37 matches in a row and has already won seven titles, including two Grand Slam tournaments. Overall she has achieved 60 Tour wins in 2022 which makes her the first female player to reach that milestone within a calendar year since Caroline Wozniacki in 2017.
“I did not expect that after I finish my adventure with professional tennis, we would have a tennis player in the world top so quickly,” Radwanska said during an interview with Telewizja Polska.
“Iga is excellent. She has been number one for a long time. It represents a style at a very high level. At the moment there is no worthy competitor. No one is able to maintain its level in the long run. There are mishaps, like everyone else, but most can count on winning at most one set. With such a high intensity, girls “fall”. It’s a bit of a shame that so far there are no historic matches in her performance, such as Roger Federer vs. Rafael Nadal used to be.”
Swiatek’s most recent match was in the final of the Ostrava Open where she lost to Barbora Krejcikova in a marathon encounter that lasted more than three hours. This was the first time since 2019 she had lost in a tournament final and only the second in her entire career on the WTA Tour.
Despite the defeat, Agnieszka believes Swiatek still stands out as the better player compared to her peers. Out of her eight defeats this year, five of those were to a player who has previously played in the final of a Grand Slam tournament. The other three losses were to Alize Cornet, Beatriz Haddad Maia and Caroline Garcia.
“At the moment, there is a lack of players who could compete with her on an equal footing. I’m not talking about making her life difficult. I’m more concerned with epic encounters,” said Radwanska.
“Most of the girls in the lead were by chance or did not grow up to the level of Iga. In tennis, there came a moment when many girls ended their careers at a similar time. A void in the lead was created. Swiatek can dominate. I don’t see a player who can play with her as an equal. In the long run, she can lose to herself, which of course I don’t want her to do. In sport, anything can happen.”
So how has Swiatek managed to become such a dominant force on the women’s Tour? Radwanska says it is the experience she has generated which has been pivotal in her rise.
“She is Mature. She understood many tennis details. The experience she gained over two years makes her a completely different player. Every entry to the court is now different than it was then in France (when she won the 2019 French Open title). She faces constant pressure all the time. She hears from every side that she has to win by going out on the court. There are two sides of the coin.” She commented.
Swiatek is now travelling to America where she will play in the San Diego Open later this week.
