A point I didn’t emphasize enough is that Iga is so exceptional on clay that when she doesn’t bring the same level on faster surfaces it’s more of a shock. Do y’all think Iga can become just as dominant on fast courts or no?
Inorder for Iga to improve her chances on faster surfaces she'd need some variety and patience. She only plays one way and when she is pressed by better players, she begins to rush her shots out of sheer impatience. She really needs to use those groundstrokes to get to net. She can do it,but only if she believes she can.
Dominant how? Like, win everything on hard courts in one year? No one can do that, not even Sabalenka. And which courts do you consider fast? Cincy was the fastest this year, as per many players' comments. She made it to the semis there this year, lost to the eventual champion. Consideing she had to switch quickly from clay, that is a pretty damn good result. Another thing is, her hard court record is actually very good. Her W/L percentage based on surface is a bit better on clay, but you do realize that she won 12 WTA tournaments on hard courts and 10 on clay, right? All before turning 23... Oh yeah, fun fact. As of today... Iga's W/L percentage on hard courts this year is higher than Sabalenka's. It is also higher overall.
Jessica has the timing and the smarts to give anyone trouble. She had a defined strategy and she executed almost to perfection. Iga is a very predictable one dimensional player, but since most of her opponents give her so many free points, Iga doesn't change a thing. This will continue to be a issue for her. Variety will be a key component fir her in future slams.
The men are being excused because of the Olympics why not Iga she was there also till the end. Iga is young just like Coco they will improve it would be weird if they were already perfect in everything on the tennis court including schedule.
Iga can win on other surfaces, but her technique, average serve, and slightly one-dimensional game style make her much more vulnerable and less dominant than on clay.
Lol. Which other surfaces because she has been found wanting on hard courts and she still struggles a lot on grass. Iga is good but other players have figured out how to beat her. I agree with you that she is one dimensional and she doesn’t know how to adapt if her forehand and serve aren’t helping her get cheap points. When courts are pacey, it is easy to leverage aggressive return of serves and also flattening out to her forehand to draw out errors.
Iga played way way below her standard. Spraying balls all over the place and not getting first serves in she basically imploded and threw the match away.
I’ve heard some wild conspiracy theories about that match. How does Swiatek go from 12 and 14 unforced errors in her previous two matches to 41 unforced errors in that match. And her opponents billionaire parents live nearby in Buffalo NY. And her opponent had never got to the Semis in a GS before. It’s not an extreme idea considering that the winners check for the US Open is a relatively small 3.6 million.
The reason is because Pegula was hitting hard and flat. Iga needs a slow surface so that she can set up her extreme grip and rip the ball. She loves clay and slow hard court but it was a cool evening in NY and with low humidity and the ball was bouncing low and penetrating the court. Iga doesn’t like to be rushed and it shows
Just like the Olympics. She is unusual in that the big tournaments brings out of the best in the top players. Yet with Iga it brings out the worst. It is something she acknowledges and needs to work with her team.
Although I am a big fan of Iga, I also recognize that you can't win all the time. Actually, losing this match will make her stronger that now she recognize what and where her weaknesses lie. She will work on that until it is perfect.
Bruh, I think you’d be a perfect fit for Coco’s team. In my opinion, what's holding her back is her obsession with battling social media pressure instead of focusing on analyzing and exploiting the weaknesses of her opponents. If she could shift her attention away from the online noise and invest that energy into strategic preparation, she'd be unstoppable. Right now, it seems like she’s more concerned about her image and online narrative than the game itself, and that’s costing her valuable opportunities to improve her performance on the court.
Iga is 23 years old & has won 5 majors - wow. How many players today will in their career get to 5 majors? Does she need a break? No harm in that. Is her coach/shrink doing the job? No harm in new playing ideas - I am not not so sure that a travelling shrink is necessary
Iga came at the perfect time right after Covid when the field was severely weakened. Also the current system benefits slow players because of all the masters 1000 around clay season. Doha, Dubai, IW and Miami all play slower and then Rome and Madrid before RG. All she needs to do is play well for 3 months of the year and it’s that easy to be on top
Iga played a lot of tournaments this year, going deep in almost all of them. I think she needs to take it step by step, work on her serve, maybe add a mean slice and the results will come again.
Great summary. Because you can really see mental burnout in important matches. But is Swiatek ready for such changes? Probably reducing the amount of playing is out of the question for the next two or three years, by defending No. 1, where she would still like to maintain the ranking. On the other hand, winning slams would provide her with that. But there is no guarantee.
Let me first say that Iga is an amazing all around player. She has proven herself on hard courts (US Open 2022) and she’s the clear Queen of Clay. I won’t be surprised if she ties Steffi Graf’s 6 Roland Garros titles, and possibly Evert’s 7. But that serve… Players like Davenport, Clijsters, Serena, Henin would have a field day with her serve on their return. Even prime Sharapova would just tee off on that thing. My EARLY prediction is a player like Muchova or Sabalenka will win the French 2025. I think the Olympics was a turning point for Iga. S
You just said that Iga is queen of clay then said Muchova or Sabalenka will beat her in French open 2025 😂 basically your saying she’s not going to win another slam.
The match results between Iga and Saba on slow clay courts has already been decided. There is no way Saba will beat Iga (unless he's injured) in Rome and RG. Muchova seems physically insecure about running two weeks tournaments. She might have a better chance if she has ranked that she could face Iga before going into the deeper rounds.
Great synopsis on Iga! I absolutely think Iga and the team will figure out how to win on fast courts and eventually win some more GS'S. But I don't think she will dominate the other courts like she does clay. The WTA is just too deep with talented players. Right now, I don't see anyone playing good enough to dominate like the Queen. It irritates me how quickly the media tries to pressure these kids in the WTA and ATP into the goat status when they are nowhere near goat stats. Everyone needs to chill with that. It is one thing if the players dream of surpassing the goats. But the goats are not goats for nothing. Iga, Coco, Carlos, and Sinner should never have this kind of pressure put on them because they probably will not reach those levels. If they do, now is not the time to call it because NONE OF THEM are even in the ballpark. Let them enjoy playing with no pressure to become the next goat. Domination by an elite big 3 on the men's side is over, and the same is true for women's tennis. I do feel Iga may be able to reach the goat status as the Queen of Clay! Go, Iga! 🎉🎉🎉 I don't see anyone so far close to beating her on clay. The jury is still out.... 😊 Again, Chris, great analysis!!!
Iga didnt look good at the us open at all. most of her opponents had lost to her already and didnt have the mentality to take it to her when the game didnt go their way. Iga looked bad after the olympics like carlos. the mental aspect it huge. giving break points with double faults yikes. the first 3 games vs Iga are very important.
The handful of players who have beaten Swiatek in the last year, have learnt that they have to play a power game, go for their shots and hit deep. One cannot just push the ball back to Iga because she will hit a winner sooner or later.
I like your analysis, but one thing I really don't like is you constantly saying that Iga SHOULD lost the SF in 2022 against Sabalenka. It's downplaying her achievement. This match was a battle and better player won, fair and square.
100% spot on and l love Iga so much to want her to lose but l don't know if her slump is temporary. Will she play better two years from now than she is playing now? I don't think so. I can't imagine the WTA without lga .
Because she's so good, she's not a robot for gods sake! stats don't lie, Iga can't win every match .5 G/S at 23yrs old, what an achievement! take that in Haters ! 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
@@colinmcdonald6632I am not one of the haters. I love Iga so much but we also need to face reality that she is no longer as explosive as she used to be. Same goes for Coco who is also one of if not my most favourite player.
@@Pollyanna_9 Don't be too emotional when discussing Iga. She is simply not getting better. Yeah she has had very great results in the past but she is not getting better today. I don't see her doing better tomorrow.
I honestly think that she is no 1 by default ( or simply because she is the most consistently driven and FIT of all the top players). I think she folds whenever someone who can be consistently aggressive and serve well .
Swiatek has achieved a lot at the age of 23 and is actually comparable with Serena and Graf at this stage in her career. She has to adapt to the faster surfaces though if she wants to be amongst the all time greats. Nadal started off as mainly a clay court specialist but eventually was able to win multiple titles on faster surfaces as well. Same with Henin as you pointed out. I think Swaitek will be way better than Henin, she has time on her side.
Let me draw the comparison for you to tell you why they are not comparable. Graf was born in 1969 and by 1992 she already won 11 grand slams ( 3 AO, 2 FO, 4 W and 2 USO) how is that comparable to Swiatek's ( 4 FO, 1 USO), lets also remember Graf was also in two finals and 3 FO finals, she contested 16 grand slam finals won 11 compare to Swiatek 5 grand slam finals. So when is 5 time grand slam winner comparable to 11 time grand slam winner. Here we talking about someone like Borg that has 11 grand slam to someone like Edberg or Becker. with 6 grand slams. I think Swiatek will be lucky to match Hingis career or Seles carerer
No excuses Swiatek got just beat by a better player hands down nothing to do with going to the Olympics & playing other tournaments it was her choice just like it was the other players choice! First Swiatek played players that weren’t as high ranking players so she didn’t have much competition but Pegula is someone Swiatek has played several times & the competition was going to be better & Pegula had a good chance to win & indeed she did hands down! Another problem for Swiatek is the noise level it’s too loud in NY for Swiatek especially when the crowd aren’t for her! Face it Pegula just played her game & beat Swiatek beautifully! Congratulations Pegula it was a great win 👏🇺🇸
@@Pollyanna_9 age has nothing to do with last night match Swiatek lost the match she made some mistakes she doesn’t normally make Pegula played a better match I know you didn’t want to hear Pegula was a better player which she was so just deal with it Swiatek is going to lose some times & last night face it Swiatek didn’t play her best & that’s what’s happens even to the #1 player
@@donnafielder6027 my point was people act as if Swiatek is over because she lose in QF of a slam. Pegula is 30 years old and no one heard of her a few years ago!
She def need to change coach and pribably kick out her mental coach (I Can not stand her talking about no pressure on herself) Like wtf. girl you are no.1, its clearly she is no longer progressing under Wiktorowski, just look at her Grand Slam run over last 2 Years, Yes she won 2 GS but thats on clay where she dominates, other then that she losed in 3rd & 4th round of remaining ones (except AUS 2023 and this year US) Her 1st serve is still joke but she admited that they have been working on that from last year.... Sabalenka/Gauff GS is more impressive then hers... And dont get me wrong, I'm huge Iga fan.
When I watch iga I see precision and good shot making. I love watching her play. However when a big striker player is firing all cylinders as you love to call her big lenka. Iga can’t play her game. Also the later stages in grand slam tournaments will always have players in form which will just make it even harder. Regardless iga is an amazing player! Nice video Christian court
@@kjron1548 If she faces a fast HC with Pegula, Sab, or Ryb (not sick), I think she is going to have a high chance of a "bad day in the office." I also predict that next year there will be more players who can beat her under these conditions.
I don’t see Iga dominating anywhere except clay. One US open is an exception that she won but to repeat that would be a big task. She has to prove she is all court player, which I don’t see that.
Without a stronger serve, there is nothing to look for on hard courts. On these surfaces, you have to be able to defend your serve because good opponents will not give you many chances to fix something.
Hard court players will demolish her because the timing for iga long swing. Sabalenka 85mhp forehand and backhand with topspin won’t allow any player to hit as solid as the want
Hello Christian! Thanks för Your analyse not only for Iga`s yesterday's match. I`m impressing that You too .. ( ..and my self... ) is understanding situation of No.1 in seven last loses. The are danger situation on kort... in several Months.. for 5 times Big Champion. Almost everything no works för Iga.. now. She has no servis, no own game, no plan, no power... no adjusting to actually "situation.." Her bolls are landning a long way from the line time to time. I agree... with You ... Players : - Noskova, Kalinkaya, Alexandrova, Rybakina, Putintseva, Zheng, Sabalenka in Cincinnati, Pegula in N.Y. made the right analyses and correct own game adjusting... to her "problems"... The team has now (sep-2024) a big work to do... A "word" about Emma Navarro.. I was watching her live in Båstad - 7th July 2023. She made big progress... over a last year.. Regards from Växjö
Sabalenka can certainly look to beat her on faster courts for the next few years. Possibly also Navarro and Rybakina but otherwise there's nobody good enough right now.
Her biggest problem is her shots are preditable. Her opponents know where she wll place the ball. She has no drop shots, no volley no slice, and her serve is still got to improve.
Yeah that is what many people are saying and she will never change that grip, I think. So, it is what it is. She will win what she can, given all the variables. That is more than fine, in my opinion.
I wouldn't say it's her grip that's the problem. More like her swing. The only solutions I can think of is to develop better shot tolerance when it comes to absorbing pace, and redirecting. Her story sounds similar already to Rafa and later on he became better at dealing with the huge hitters. Granted, there were still times he lost to them, but he cut some of it. Burnout, from what I can tell, simply reveals that the purpose they're playing for is no longer worth it. Playing a heavy schedule simply moves that along faster. Finding a purpose that can withstand the heavy schedule that is worth it - that's going to be on the player. I wouldn't recommend a purpose that's along the lines of doing it for yourself.
I have no doubts that she is willing to improve on faster surfaces. Hell, even Nadal, when he was young, was handed that criticism for only being good on clay. Nadal, when was young, was criticized for having an average to below average serve that would cost him games. I wouldn't defend her if she was already at her peak age, but because she is so young, there is still time.
When I watch her I keep thinking her mental toughness is lacking. She has a beautiful game and has many great results - but maybe a sports psychologist could help her? Just my 2 cents.
I think Iga's problem is herself. She's loosing the fire to play the game. she has so much complain recently about the schedule. If she cannot set her priorities, she's in trouble. of course she's young and wanted a life outside courts and has money ot spend. i was following her, watch her past matches but i've notice the recent change in her games. too many unforced arrors.
As a Pole I think there is something wrong with her team… I mean her coach doesn't add any volleys, slices, etc. at her practice sessions and she can rely only on her powerful shots which are more and more often adapted by her opponents. Also, her psychologist role is quite questionable because she acts like Iva's friend which isn't healthy, while being a doctor you should separate your work and friendships. Maybe she knows some manipulation tricks that Iga won't fire her.
One of Iga's coaches when she was a junior, Sidor, once told an interviewer how he told 15-year-old Iga what tournament plans he had for her, what her upcoming career might look like, and how she looked at him with her big eyes and emphatically said that no, she was going to win all the slams. And how it hit him so hard that they decided to approach those plans differently. Iga will definitely not stay in her comfort zone. Another story from her sister's former coach is about how 6-year-old Iga decided to play with her with the intention of beating her (since she couldn't beat her older sister) and how after losing she sat for a very long time, shaking her head and not being able to get over the fact that she had lost to an adult coach. Her sister said that Iga didn't like to practice tedious specific shots, and would only play for points. Iga will do anything to achieve her goal. No one who knows her well has any doubts about that. As for her talent too. I remember hearing about her as an exceptional talent before she won junior Wimbledon. Now people are running a narrative like she is not even able to develop in some aspects.
Iga is a very talented player. She has won five majors at an exceptionally young age. Iga is too uptight all of the time. She does not seem that she is having fun playing tennis anymore. She is obsessed with winning. Suck it up Iga , and stop all of the crying. You can not win all of the time. Iga is not happy unless she is beating the hell out of an opponent. You are making yourself miserable and unhappy thinking you can not lose.
It is no wonder that professional tennis players, especially top players, have complicated feelings about tennis. Even great players of the past have said that they cannot just "love" the sport.
Just to clarify some important things to many comments posters what they’re completely missing on. First of all Iga Swiatek is playing very selective number of tournaments decided by her team. Secondly by being seeded as number 1 has many buys and playing relatively very easy most of her first against much weaker opponents. Third of all she is only entering the singles event which is a huge factor why she stopped progressing in the game. Playing routinely the same style of tennis, by smacking balls from the baseline and trying to hit the lines and corners that’s not what tennis is about. Without finesse and not using slices, drop shots and volleys is not enough to be the best in the game and keep winning. Number one player in the world has to demonstrate higher tennis skills. Finally is the time to change the philosophy of playing the game and replace the whole coaching team.
I’d say see if she can spend time with Nadal breaking down matches. Nadal had some struggles early on in his career on hard courts with similar issues. He slowly added to his shot repertoire and it paid off (2 AO, 4 U.S. Open). I think she needs to add slices into her shot selection. Some to neutralize and reset the point and at other times to add some variety so the opponent isn’t seeing the same two shots. Also get comfortable coming in behind weak shots under pressure and putting away easy volleys.
Why are all of these comments about Iga not playing well other than she was outplayed by Jessica Pegula. Ostenpenko has beaten her at least 4 times in a row. She can't handle balls that come at her really fast on a fast court.
iga just played awful. we have seen her hit hard before, not sure whats going wrong with her recently. she obviously won the us open before and masters 1000s on hard court so it just all depends on her progress and where shes at mentally and physically. also worthy to note it's interesting how iga is having this slump similar to carlos....it also could be a problem with coaching cause im not sure if its tomasz thats changing something. all we can do is see how she progresses throughout the season i suppose cause theres a lot of possibilities. hopefully this slump is very temporary
Iga lost just for Americans to make them happy and forgive her for going to the toilet, because for example Coco "never" uses a toilet breaks ;-) Now just hope that Pegula will keep her good form and win US Open
The reason why Iga has been so “dominant” is because the current system benefits slow court players. Too many masters 1000 around clay season. Doha, Dubai, IW, and Miami play slower and then Rome and Madrid before Roland Garros. Fast players don’t get as much points during grass and summer swing
@@kasiaxxx8141 yes Miami has always played slow. It’s the extreme humidity that makes the ball heavy and the courts sticky. They recently sped up the courts to offset the weather conditions but it’s still a slower surface and good preparation for clay
Wellll, Henin was much more technically and tactically sound player than Świątek (and even Serena for that matter). I think this comparison is off because she was not a typical clay court specjalist with her aggresive and offensive tennis (in fact much more grass suited even though miraculously she never managed to win Wimbledon 😅)
Has coco's time come and gone? Zheng's time come and gone? Competition is much better these days. Lots of tournaments may be wearing these players down. Lots of factors. No simple answers.
@@perlman-t2g Good point, tournament schedule, 75 just this year in addition to Olympics in compared to 90's 37 is simply grueling. It wears out players mentally and physically and especially exhausting to those top players that going deep into tournaments like Iga and other players when their milage on court is double in compare to those that drop in early stages of tournaments.
Iga is similar to Martina Hingis she only does well due to a VOID in women tennis. Ash Barty retired two years ago and Iga rose to the top. She only does well at ONE SLAM Roland Garros. She still does poorly at AO, Wimbledon, and US Openn. IGA only dominates Roland Garros. She has no plan B. She didn't change the pace didn't use drop shots, didn't slice either or go to net.
Tennis is a hard game, and a lot of people are good at it. Expecting one person to win all the time makes no sense. Iga is a great player, but she struggles against players with massive forehands, and she struggles when she can't utilize her serves (she has about four different styles.) Her movement and patterns are so well studied, that everyone on tour KNOWS her patterns, and yet they still have trouble against her. She has gotten a lot more self confident over the last few years, she used to be very nervous all the time. Truly, I find her boring to watch when she is dominating, and frustrating to watch when she is flopping, but I don't think she is doing anything wrong in her approach, but sometimes in execution. She will be successful for a long time.
It’s time for her to get a new coach . She needs to improve her serve . Most of her serves are in the middle. She needs to do more wide and T serves . Need to play consistently, not aggressively all the time. Need to do more on slice and drop shots.
all what you say about iga problems on grand slams {except Paris} is correct but on the other hand is hard to belive but Iga is the only player from top 10 right now who has 2 diffrent GS tittles on two diffrent surfuces.
I am not going to watch the video or listen to it, no one needs to tell anyone what is any tennis players' problem, specially if you/they know tennis. Iga is very consistent and that is why she is easily ahead as the world #1. What is her problem? Like everyone else, she is HUMAN first and foremost, prone to, well, not being perfect. That is an easy one. Secondly, people would be mindless to think for a second other players are not trying to be better players also. She will win some and lose some: move on.
Si eres n1 debes saber jugar en todas las superficies, no solo en arcilla. Doy ej.. SELES, HINGIS.. DAVENPORT.. GRAF.. HENIN.. TODAS FUERON N1.. Y SABIAN JUGAR EN TODAS, ERA COMPLETAS..
2024 Iga plays the same way as 2022 Iga - no drop shots, no slices, no consistent serve. She isn't putting in the same amount of work to adapt on fast hard courts and grass like she does on clay but seemingly expecting to have the same success e.g she played Stuggart and she lost to Rybakina she played both Rome and Madrid yet for the previous 3 years she played 1 grass warm up before Wimbledon. Nothing wrong with dominating RG and slow surfaces her, she has an amazing career, her team just need to be honest about things, Carlos was playing a grass event a week after winning FO.
Too much tennis true that ,It looks like anyone who made some kind of noise at this year’s Olympics was gassed out at this US open including Carlos and the Goat himself.
@@Lewis-HM1 WHY? Name me 1 former World Number 1 that has NEVER lost in straight sets before? Shock Horror, even the GOAT has lost in straight sets - many times!
You’re giving Iga too much credit. She’s just a clay court player. I mean, she got the #1 by default and she only turns up at the French. She’s overrated, imo.
Billionaires are having their say at this tournament. I am nowhere close to that wealth myself but I’m impressed by how they are middle fingering the golden spoon stereotype🤔.
Her games and weakness clearly shows in the Olympic semi against Queen Zheng. 6-2 and 6-3 in Straight set. She will not win another Roland Garos. When she complaint about sessions too long is unacceptable. Why should number one player ever complaint. She was given number one by Ash Barty. She lost to so many lower rank players.
