US Open champion Carlos Alcaraz has paid tribute to Iga Swiatek’s performance this season by describing her dominance on the WTA Tour as ‘incredible.’
Swiatek has held the No.1 position since April 4th and has established herself as a formidable force in the sport. This year the Pole won 37 matches in a row before her streak came to an end at Wimbledon. She has won eight out of nine finals she has played on the Tour, including the French Open and US Open. During the first 250 days of becoming the top-ranked player on the women’s Tour, she defeated 11 top-10 players and won 14 sets 6-0.
The achievements of 21-year-old Swiatek are ones that Alcaraz said he aspires to achieve in his career. The Spaniard has also enjoyed a meteoric rise in 2022 by winning two ATP 500’s, two Masters 1000 and his first Grand Slam. At the age of 19, he is the youngest year-end No.1 in ATP history.
“I see her year has been incredible, she broke a record I think for the longest winning streak (this century). It’s amazing,” Alcaraz said of Swiatek during an interview with Arab news.
“I wish to be like her, to not lose the No. 1. But I think it’s almost impossible. I’m going to lose it but the point is to recover it and stay there at No. 1 as much as I can.”
Alcaraz reached the top of the rankings after the US Open but faces the tough task of keeping hold of that position next year. Among the challengers is Novak Djokovic who could generate a considerable points boost in Australia which is a country he was barred from playing in last year due to being unvaccinated.
Guiding the youngster is long-time mentor Juan Carlos Ferrero who is also a former world No.1 player. Ferrero admits that it hasn’t been easy for his compatriot to get used to his new status and his surge in success at such a young age.
“After the US Open it was difficult to adapt to his new role on the tour for him,” said Ferrero.
“I was talking to him about how he had to manage everything but I think he needed to feel and to live it, go to a tournament and feel that pressure of being No. 1, playing matches being No. 1. It’s not very easy at the beginning and at the age of 19, it’s something that is not super mature to control everything that happened to him right now.
“He’s in a moment where he needs to live it like this and to feel what he’s going through and adapting. He knows it’s going to be like this until at least the Australian Open, so he needs to try to be normal but at the same time it’s not. But he has to.”
Similar to Swiatek, Alcaraz consults with a sports psychologist to help him navigate life as a professional athlete. He works with Isabel Balaguer who is a professor of special psychology at Valencia University.
“She is a big and important side of our work,” Ferrero commented.
“It’s been about two years he’s working with her. It’s not like every week but every time that he feels he needs to talk to her about something that maybe is not right or something that is giving him more trouble in a match, he talks to her and tries to fix it a little bit,” he added.
Alcaraz will return to the court later this week at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship which is a three-day exhibition event held in Abu Dhabi. His opening match will be against either Andrey Rublev or Frances Tiafoe.