(Reuters) – Poland’s Iga Swiatek is favourite to defend her title at the U.S. Open but after a stellar 2022 season some cracks have appeared in the four-times Grand Slam champion’s aura of invincibility.
The 22-year-old strung together a 37-match win streak last season, claiming two majors among her eight titles, and has triumphed at four tournaments in 2023, including the French Open.
But the gap between the Pole and the rest of the field has narrowed and she arrives in New York with the top ranking she has held since April 2022 under threat.
“I know from my experience already that being a defending champion is not easy,” said Swiatek. “I’m going to kind of take it easy on myself and just try to do everything step by step.
“Last year’s tournament was also really tough. I could be out in the fourth round if you watched my matches. So I’ll just fight and I’ll see how it’s going to go.”
A year ago, Swiatek struggled at the start of the North American summer hardcourt season – falling in the last 16 in her two tune-up events – which cast a shadow of doubt over her U.S. Open chances.
Before the tournament even began she complained about the balls at the U.S. Open, suggesting the lighter ones used in women’s matches were tougher to control and presented a disadvantage to harder-hitting players like herself.
Adopting an underdog mentality, Swiatek’s play through her first six matches at Flushing Meadows was more gritty than glorious, but she improved gradually throughout the tournament before beating Ons Jabeur in the final to rubber-stamp her position atop the women’s game.
This year, Swiatek failed to go beyond the semi-finals in her two U.S. Open tune-up events in Montreal and Cincinnati and she conceded she needed time to recharge her batteries.
“From my perspective I would say my tank of fuel is pretty empty,” Swiatek said after falling to Coco Gauff in last week’s Cincinnati Open semi-final.
“Honestly, I’m not even going to kind of regret a lot because I’m happy that I’m going to have days off now.”
The U.S. Open runs from Aug. 28 to Sept. 10.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
