Iga Swiatek has been incredibly dominant in recent years, but she could still enforce her game on opponents more, according to Martina Navratilova.
The Polish player has been the best player in the world for about two years now, and her clay dominance has been particularly impressive. She just completed a triple on the WTA Tour by winning the Madrid Open, the Italian Open, and Roland Garros.
She’s not quite as dominant on other surfaces as she is on clay, but she won the US Open, so she’s certainly capable of playing some really strong tennis on hard courts as well.
Former player Navratilova talked about Swiatek in an interview with L’Equipe, where she assessed what she would need to change. There isn’t much to change, according to the legendary player, but going forward to the net is something Swiatek has been very hesitant to do.
It would certainly add the finishing touches to a spectacular skillset, which would make her dominant on all surfaces, something the former American player compared to Novak Djokovic.
“She will never be as dominant as on clay, but we are talking about a champion and she has real room for improvement. How many volleys did she play [in the final]? Only one, and she missed it. The truth is she doesn’t really need to go up, she’s so aggressive from the baseline.”
“On other surfaces, however, like grass, it is more difficult. To become more complete, she must progress at the net. She has already improved her service.”
The Polish player often speaks about wanting to become the best possible player she can be, and improving her net game would certainly help. The upcoming grass season is certainly a great opportunity for her to work on her forward game.
“She can win elsewhere by playing like this, she won the US Open [in 2022], but she would win even more by expanding her range. Like Novak Djokovic: at first he played basically the same way as Iga, but he developed his forward game, his ability to finish at the net.”
“That means we can do it, if we take the time. I know she is already working on this… Now we have to be able to implement it in competition.”
