'That’s what champions do': Andrea Petkovic backs Iga Swiatek to bounce back

Former German tennis star Andrea Petkovic has backed Poland’s Iga Swiatek to return to her very best after a lean patch. The 23-year-old, who is still regarded as one of the best players currently playing in women’s tennis in the singles category, is going through a difficult phase according to her own high standards.

Swiatek has not won any competition since lifting the French Open last year, when she beat Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in the final in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1. This year, her struggles have intensified, as despite featuring in as many as eight competitions, she has not been able to secure a spot in the final.

During that time, she suffered defeats in the semifinals on four occasions. Swiatek’s most recent appearance came at the Rome Open, where she was defeated in the second round by America’s Danielle Collins in straight sets with a score of 6-1, 7-5. Those results have impacted Swiatek’s position in the WTA rankings, as she is now down to fifth in the table.

In a post on Substack, former German player Petkovic has backed Swiatek to return to form. The former world number nine stated that she remains optimistic about the Warsaw-born player's ability to bounce back as that’s ‘what champions do’.

"We can see what happens when the absence of doubt becomes absent with Iga Swiatek right now,” she wrote. “Everything that seemed natural and innate becomes artificial and forced. What once flowed now stutters, what once was natural now is hard. It’s almost easier for somebody like me who one day just got used to having doubts. They were foes no more, only bizarre voices in my head. Iga, on the other hand, never had to live with them. All she ever knew how to be was the best tennis player in the world. She will calibrate again, that’s what champions do.”