Mumbai: Iga Swiatek has been warming up to being a 'clay-court player' again, and her recent performance at the French Open is a testament to that. After a disappointing start to the year, Swiatek has been working with new coach Francisco Roig, one of Rafael Nadal's long-time coaches, and it seems to be paying off.
Swiatek swept past Australian wildcard Emerson Jones 6-1, 6-2 in 60 minutes in her first sighting at the French Open since working with Roig. While it's not much to read into a contest between a four-time champion and a debutant, Swiatek's resurgence on clay is evident.
Her forehand, one of her most bullying weapons during her reign on clay, is starting to come alive again. Swiatek launched 17 winners, 15 of them off the forehand, including the putaway that sealed the match. Her opponent, Jones, had better speeds behind her forehands, but Swiatek had greater revs.
Swiatek's recent performance in Rome, where she made the semi-finals, is also a noteworthy outcome. She beat Naomi Osaka and Jessica Pegula, who had beaten her back-to-back before, and lost to Maria Sakkari in Doha and Magda Linette in Miami.
Swiatek has been playing a bit differently, more similar to a couple of years ago, and it's a trait she had somewhat drifted away from in the quest to add new things to her game. Under renowned coach Wim Fissette, the Pole won her first Wimbledon title last year, but lost her edge on clay.
With Roig's help, Swiatek is slowly finding her footing on clay again. She's carrying all of that into this clay swing, which has gradually improved for her from Stuttgart to Madrid to Rome. The start has been solid in Paris, although her draw is tricky with plenty of potential challenges from as early as the third round.
