Swiatek proving role model to star aiming to topple Nadal and Djokovic

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

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World number one Carlos Alcaraz has been inspired by his fellow top-ranked player Iga Swiatek with both players taking their respective tennis tours by storm in 2022. The duo each won Grand Slams and picked up wins against the world’s top players as well as gaining numerous plaudits along the way.

Alcaraz had been impressed with the 21-year-old’s scintillating performances throughout the year and aims to replicate her achievements. “I see her year has been incredible, she broke a record I think for the longest winning streak (this century). It’s amazing,” the teen told Arab news ahead of a trip to Abu Dhabi.

“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 captured five titles this year, including a maiden US Open title and Masters 1000 crown, storming to victory in Miami.

The Spaniard conquered Novak Djokovic and compatriot Rafael Nadal in consecutive matches en route to claiming the Madrid Open title and the year-end number one was cemented at the ATP Finals last month. Swiatek on the other hand, enjoyed a 37-match winning streak earlier this year, the longest in the twenty-first century and won eight titles after reaching nine finals.

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Two of those trophies came in Grand Slams, the first coming at Roland Garros which marked her second title in the French capital. The Pole then won her maiden title at Flushing Meadows as her aggressive style enabled her to replicate her clay-court success on a hard court.

Like Swiatek, Alcaraz has consulted extensively with a sports psychologist Isabel Balaguer. With the players constantly being scrutinised and the sport becoming more pressurised, this sort of addition to the team may become a regular occurrence across the tour. “She is a big and important side of our work,” Alcaraz’s coach Juan Carlos 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.” Ferrero commented on how Alcaraz is adapting to his new role on the tour becoming the world number one.

In just one season the youngster has gone from being the ‘hunter’ to the ‘hunted’, but the 2003 French Open winner believes he will learn to embrace the pressure. “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.”

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