Eurosport expert and 18-time Grand Slam champion Chris Evert believes Iga Swiatek ‘has a target on her back’ as she prepares to defend her Indian Wells title.
The 2023 season so far has been somewhat of a rollercoaster for the world No. 1, with Swiatek suffering a shock fourth round exit at the Australian Open, triumphing at the Qatar Open to secure another title, but then losing in the Dubai Tennis Championships final.
Despite openly struggling with the pressure of being the world No. 1 in women’s tennis, Swiatek boasts an impressive 3000-point lead over her rivals and, according to Evert, is still very much the ‘player to beat’ as she gets ready to defend her title next week at Indian Wells.
‘’We know she has the game physically,” Evert told Eurosport.
“We know she's a great competitor, and she's a great athlete. She's got wonderful tools, and a wonderful skill-set in tennis. But it seems like in the matches that she's lost, that emotional part has broken down.
“[Novak] Djokovic is almost like a machine. He goes out there and, you know, he can just have that tunnel vision and focus and not let his emotions get in the way. I think Iga has shown in some matches that she has let her emotions get the best of her.
“So she would just have to be aware of that, I think. But she is still the player to beat, no matter what you say.
‘’She will lose once in a while, but she's still the player to beat, and she does have a target on her back.
‘’Nobody understands the pressures of being number one unless you are number one. Nobody understands that, and it does take a while to adjust.
‘’I think Iga is an emotional person, and I think the mental and the emotional side of the game will, at times, present challenges to her as it has in the past.
“She's not a machine. She's a young woman that feels deeply, and I just think that has been a discipline for her to learn to stay calm in matches and to learn to not panic and to not get anxiety.
“Historically, she has talked about the fact that she gets anxious in life and on the tennis court.’’
While taking into account her recent losses, Evert maintained the 21-year-old is ‘playing better than ever’ and is undoubtedly the most ‘consistent’ player on the tour.
‘’I think she's playing better than ever,” Evert continued.
“That was obvious when she had that streak, she was just annihilating her opponents. Then she didn't play as well against Pegula and maybe didn't play as well against Krejcikova.
“It's like every once in a while she's going to have a match where she's not 100%, but I still think she is the most dependable player and the most consistent out there.
‘’Not only that, but she can hurt an opponent with the way she takes the ball early and her athleticism. Her average game, she's still going to win nine out of 10 matches. So I think she's playing better than ever.
“She has a sports psychologist on the team because the emotional and the mental part are very important in tennis now, and you just have to know how to manage that. I think she is getting better and better at that.’’
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