Iga Swiatek remains tight-lipped on her off-season routines after her United Cup opening-round win
Iga Swiatek keeps off-season work a "secret" amidst "theories", during post-match interview at United Cup 2025.
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Iga Swiatek (image via Youtube)
Following her win against Malene Helgø in Group B of the United Cup 2025, Iga Swiatek spoke about her performance and experience playing for her country in the tournament. She also expressed her happiness and excitement about the event, highlighting the energy she gets from the fans and the country’s support.
When asked by Andrea Petkovic in the on-court interview whether she and her coach had worked on any significant changes during the off-season, Swiatek refused to give much away. Swiatek joked that she was keeping her off-season work “a secret” and that people were free to conjecture their “theories” regarding it! However, the World No. 2 did share some of the “usual stuff” on camera regarding her work off-season.
I guess it’s going to be well, you know, kind of the usual stuff, you know for sure, getting more variety on the serve, and also, you know, working on my technique a bit. It’s not always about, you know, the results but also getting the technique more smooth and being able to keep the quality, you know, longer.
Iga Swiatek in the post-match interview at United Cup
Iga Swiatek expressed her excitement to start the new season with a new coach, bringing a fresh approach. Swiatek had announced the appointment of Belgian coach Wim Fissette as her new head coach in October this year. Fissette is renowned for coaching top-ranked players such as Naomi Osaka, Kim Clijsters, and Victoria Azarenka. This appointment came shortly after Swiatek parted ways with her previous coach, Tomasz Wiktorowski, whom she had worked with for nearly three years.
Iga Swiatek after beating Helgo at United Cup in 1st match of the season
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) December 30, 2024
Petkovic: “I wanted to ask what you worked on in the off-season? We had our theories but we want to hear it from you.”
Iga: “You can have your theories… It’s a secret.” 😂
*Iga looks into the camera* pic.twitter.com/yzmH8v2ocK
Iga Swiatek also spoke about how happy she is to be able to play tennis. Swiatek hopes to maintain a better distance from the pressure this year. She acknowledged that it’s hard to keep one’s distance in tennis when one is competing every week. The 5-time Grand Slam champion also remarked that she is taking things step by step, focusing on the upcoming Australian Open.
Iga Swaitek shines at the United Cup following doping ban
Iga Swiatek dominated the court at the United Cup tournament against the much lower-ranked Malene Helgø. Swiatek won with a score of 6-1, 6-0 in barely an hour during Poland’s contest against Norway at Ken Rosewall Arena.
Iga Swaitek then partnered up with Jan Zieliński to win a thrilling mixed doubles, leading Poland to a 2-1 victory over Norway. Casper Ruud had levelled the tie for Norway with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Hubert Hurkacz in the men’s singles. But that did little to overshadow Swiatek’s incredible performance.
The United Cup marks Iga Swiatek’s first tour match since facing a month-long suspension due to a positive test for trimetazidine, a banned substance. The drug was found to be a contaminant in her sleep medication.
Accordingly, she was given a penalty that was at the lowest end of the range for “No Significant Fault or Negligence”. The suspension lasted from September 12 to October 4, 2024, during which Swiatek missed three tournaments and forfeited her prize money from the Cincinnati Open.
The United Cup, now in its third edition, marks the first tournament of the 2025 season. It is being held from 27 December 2024 to 5 January 2025 at two venues in Australia, at Perth and Sydney. Iga Swiatek and her Polish teammates will next face Tomas Machac and Karolina Muchova from the Czech Republic on 1st January 2025 in this tournament.
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Anubhav Bajpeyee
(172 Articles Published)