'It’s unpredictable': Iga Swiatek rejects 'favourite' tag ahead of US Open

Poland’s Iga Swiatek is going through an interesting season. After spending more than 12 months without winning a single title, the 24-year-old has now cemented two big triumphs in the space of the last two months.

Swiatek first lifted the Wimbledon title after beating America's Amanda Anisimova in the final in straight sets with a score of 6-0, 6-0. She became the first women’s player in more than 100 years to win a final of Wimbledon without losing a single game. Most recently, Swiatek lifted the Cincinnati Open after beating Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in the final in straight sets with a score of 7-5, 6-4.

Not long ago, there were rumours on social media that Swiatek would consider taking a break after a series of disappointing results. However, just months later, she is now entering the upcoming US Open as one of the favourites to go all the way and lift the title. The fourth and final Grand Slam of the year will start on Sunday in New York.

Swiatek, however, is not in favour of such claims. While speaking to the media ahead of the start of the competition, Swiatek stated that she does not believe any such tag is justified, especially after a couple of under-par performances at the US Open in the last two years. Swiatek was of the opinion that there are a lot of players out there who have the ability to go all the way and win the competition.

Rejecting 'favourite' tag

“I think it doesn’t make sense to call anyone the favorite,” said Swiatek. “Women’s tennis, I wouldn’t say it’s unpredictable because there are some girls that are constantly in the top and we are proving that we can play well throughout the whole season. But there are many players who play really well and can win the tournament. So I got used to the expectations. Obviously, after winning so many things, they are always going to be there.”

Last year, Swiatek suffered a defeat in the quarterfinal of the US Open to America’s Jessica Pegula in straight sets with a score of 6-2, 6-4. A year before that, while defending her title in New York, Swiatek suffered a shocking defeat against Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko with a score of 3-6, 6-3, 6-1. This year, Swiatek has played 61 matches across different competitions, where she won 49 times and suffered 12 defeats. During the same press conference, Swiatek spoke about how the results improved after her work behind the scenes with her new coaching team, including Wim Fissette, who joined her towards the end of the 2024 season.

“The season got a bit more complicated from other perspectives, so I wasn’t in a really good zone to win the tournaments,” said Swiatek. “But I would say after Roland Garros, I kind of got back to my usual self. I would say the process of learning all this stuff that I learned in preseason kind of came back, and for sure I used it on Wimbledon and on hard court in Cincinnati. And we’ll see what’s going to come next. If it’s a big technical change or just a small adjustment, I would say I’m a quick learner. I’m the kind of player who really needs to repeat new things from time to time. I think everybody who has a technique will sometimes go back to the old habits. Everything he [Fisette] said to me made sense, and if it didn’t, then we just have to talk more, and he had to explain a bit more. I had to try again and again, and then it started working. So it depends on the situation.”