Roger Federer gives verdict as Iga Swiatek replicates incredible shot

US Open win persuades Iga Swiatek the ‘sky is the limit’ for tennis career

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Roger Federer has given his seal of approval to an ‘around the post’ winner played by current world No 1 Iga Swiatek. Federer announced his retirement from tennis last year after winning a staggering 20 Grand Slam titles.

Polish star Swiatek was in mixed doubles action alongside her compatriot Hubert Hurkacz at the United Cup on Sunday, with the players taking on Kazakhstani pairing Zhibek Kulambayeva and Grigoriy Lomakin.

With Lomakin serving at 2-3 15-30 in the opening set and attempting to avoid an early break, a tremendous rally ensued as Swiatek exchanged shots with both her opponents. And after Lomakin sent the ball out wide, the Pole lashed the ball around the post as it clipped the line to set-up two break points.

Swiatek and Hurkacz went on to win the opening set 6-3, before winning the second set 6-4 to secure victory. And after the encounter, Swiatek posted a video of her amazing winner to Twitter, with the caption, “do you approve @rogerfederer.”

Federer eventually responded to the 21-year-old as he posted four exploding head emojis alongside the words, “That was crazy.” The Swiss ace became synonymous with similar shots throughout his playing days and used the tactic to win points and stun his opponents whenever the chance presented itself.

The inaugural United Cup began in December in Brisbane, Perth and Sydney and sees 18 mixed gendered teams competing. Each tie sees a maximum of five matches taking place, with Poland defeating Kazakhstan 4-1.

And after the showdown, Swiatek said: “Pretty amazing. That’s the first time I’ve ever had the opportunity to play with Hubert and when he serves it’s the best feeling ever honestly. I don’t have to do anything on the volleys, I love it.

“I think we have a pretty cool communication and he’s the one that is giving a lot of positive energy. I’m the one who usually needs it so I feel like this is going to go pretty well and I’m pretty happy we played this first match and we tried some things out. And hopefully it’s going to bring us even more in the future.”

Hurkacz then claimed his team-mate had already pulled-off the shot of the year with her around the post effort. “Yeah that was insane, obviously Iga was really amazing, hitting the super really hard and then carrying me throughout the whole match. So that was really nice. It’s the first of January and Iga already has the shot of the year so that’s a pretty good start.”

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