Iga Świątek

Iga Świątek was born on 31 May 2001 in Warsaw to Dorota and Tomasz Świątek.[1] Her father is a former rower who competed in the men's quadruple sculls event at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.[2] Her mother is an orthodontist. She has a sister Agata who is about three years older and is a student of dentistry at the Medical University of Lublin.[3] Świątek's father wanted his daughters to become competitive athletes, and preferred they take up an individual sport rather than a team sport to have better control of their chances of success. Agata initially started out as a swimmer, but switched to tennis after she had issues with swimming. Iga followed her sister into tennis because she wanted to beat her and also because she wanted to be more like her. Agata briefly competed on the ITF Junior Circuit in 2013 at about 15 years old, but stopped playing due to injury troubles.[4][5][6] Świątek trained at Mera Warsaw as a 14-year-old before later moving to Legia Warsaw.[7][8]

Świątek with the 2018 Wimbledon junior champion's trophy

Świątek reached a career-high ranking of No. 5 as a junior. She began competing in ITF Junior Circuit events in 2015 and won back-to-back low-level Grade 4 titles in April and May at age 13. Before the end of the year, she moved up to Grade 2 events and finished runner-up in both singles and doubles at the Czech Junior Open. Świątek made her junior Grand Slam debut in 2016 at the French Open, reaching the quarterfinals in both singles and doubles. She followed this up with her best junior title to date at the Grade 1 Canadian Open Junior Championships, defeating Olga Danilović in the final.[9][10]

Świątek had a strong first half of 2017. She won both the singles and doubles titles at the Grade 1 Traralgon Junior International. Although she lost her opening round match at the Australian Open, she partnered with compatriot Maja Chwalińska to make her first final in a Grand Slam event, finishing runner-up in doubles to the North American team of Bianca Andreescu and Carson Branstine.[9][10] She then reached her first Grade A singles final at the Trofeo Bonfiglio, losing to Elena Rybakina.[11] Her season came to an end after another quarterfinal at the French Open,[9][10] after which she had right ankle surgery that kept her out for seven months.[12][13]

Despite only competing in two Grand Slam tournaments in 2018 and three singles events in total, Świątek finished her junior career with her best season.[9][10] She returned to the junior tour at the French Open after a one-year absence and reached the semifinals in singles, losing to Caty McNally.[14] She fared better in doubles, partnering with McNally to win her first junior Grand Slam title. They defeated the Japanese team of Yuki Naito and Naho Sato in the final.[15] Świątek only played singles at Wimbledon. As an unseeded player due to her absence, she was drawn against top seed Whitney Osuigwe in the first round. After winning that match in three sets,[16] she did not drop another set during the rest of the tournament and won the championship for her only junior Grand Slam singles title. She defeated Leonie Küng in the final.[17]

Świątek hitting a backhand at the 2019 Prague Open

Świątek has an aggressive, all-court style of play and incorporates a lot of variety into her game. Because her game style is focused on offence, she typically generates high amounts of both winners and unforced errors.[28][42][43] She described her own style of play on clay as "a big serve, topspin, and backhand down the line".[4] Despite her aggressive style of play, she plays with margin, and constructs points carefully until she creates an opportunity to hit a winner, and in all seven of her matches played at the French Open, she hit more winners than unforced errors. In total at the French Open, she hit 175 winners to 127 unforced errors. Her forehand and backhand are fast and powerful, with her forehand being hit with significant topspin due to her employing an extreme western grip; on her run to the title at Roland-Garros in 2020, Świątek's average forehand speed was 73 mph (118 km/h), hitting some forehands up to 79 mph (127 km/h), the fastest of any female player in the draw, and faster than any player except Jannik Sinner. Her forehand topspin reached 3453 rpm at Roland-Garros, comparable with her idol Rafael Nadal.[44] Świątek's backhand speed peaked at 76 mph (122 km/h) at the French Open, the fastest of any female player in the draw, and equal to Dominic Thiem's backhand speed; Thiem possessed the fastest backhand of any male player at the French Open.[45]

Świątek aims to come to the net, and has good volleying skills due to her doubles experience.[46] Świątek possesses an accurate first serve, peaking at 114 mph (183 km/h), and averaging at 103 mph (166 km/h), allowing her to serve aces, dictate play from the first stroke, and win a majority of first-serve points. She possesses an effective kick serve, and an effective slice serve, which are deployed as second serves, preventing opponents from scoring free points. She also regularly uses the drop shot, and won the 2019 WTA Shot of the Year with a cross-court drop shot from the baseline that landed on the sideline well inside the service box.[24][47] Świątek aims to gain the advantage in a point by hitting the ball early on the rise.[46] Further strengths include her exceptional speed, movement, and court coverage, detailed and intricate footwork, and intelligent point construction. Świątek is also notable for her calm demeanour and composure under pressure, which has been credited to her work with sports psychologist Daria Abramowicz.[48] Her favourite surface is clay, having grown up playing on that surface.[49]

Świątek is a very popular player on the WTA Tour. She finished runner-up to Simona Halep in the voting for the WTA Fan Favorite Singles Player of the Year award in 2019.[50] In 2020, she was voted the WTA Fan Favorite Singles Player of the Year.[51]

Świątek's primary coach in her early junior years was Michał Kaznowski, who she worked with up to the 2016 French Open.[8][52] Jolanta Rusin-Krzepota was her physical preparation trainer for almost four years through the end of the 2019 US Open.[53] Świątek has been coached by Piotr Sierzputowski since 2016.[54] During the time Sierzputowski has been her coach, British former professional tennis player and former Polish Davis Cup coach Nick Brown has also served as a main consultant on occasion.[55] Świątek also works with sports psychologist Daria Abramowicz.[56][57]

Świątek has been sponsored by Asics for clothing since the start of 2020. She was previously sponsored by Nike.[58] Świątek is also endorsed by the Red Bull energy drink company and the Lexus division of the Toyota automaker company, the latter of which have also sponsored fellow Polish tennis player Agnieszka Radwańska.[59][60] In 2021, Świątek signed an endorsement deal with Tecnifibre for racquets; she previously used a Prince Textreme 100 Tour racquet, although she was not under contract with the company. Świątek's father also confirmed that she had also signed a contract with Rolex in 2021.