John McEnroe says Iga Swiatek is looking at times like she “does not want to play a defense at all” as the American tennis legend suggests the Pole should target to improve her defense because that would add an extra dimension to her game and allow her to make better adjustments and stop forcing when her offense isn’t going that well.
For a second consecutive year, the world No. 1 suffered a surprise loss at the US Open and it came after she delivered a performance that was far from her standards. After making a good start and getting through her opening four matches without a dropped set, the five-time Grand Slam champion fired a stunning 41 unforced errors in the quarterfinal and paid the price since Jessica Pegula took full advantage of the Pole’s poor day on the offensive side to seal a 6-2 6-4 win.
In the spring, Swiatek completed a three-peat at the French Open and she is now a four-time winner at Roland Garros. But outside the clay courts of Roland Garros, it has been a struggle for the 23-year-old in Majors with faster surfaces – she also picked up shock third-round exits at this year’s Australian Open and Wimbledon.
And while the world No. 1 is an absolutely dominant force on clay, she remains vulnerable on faster surfaces – and to make it all worse – it is starting to become a struggle for her to make strong runs in Slams that are not played on clay.
After watching Swiatek at this year’s US Open, McEnroe has an idea of why that’s the case.
“One issue for me is she doesn’t want to play defense at all. At times, she should pull back when the offense isn’t going as well as it can do on clay. She keeps trying to hit out, which is somewhat surprising for someone who prefers a slower surface. I was a little surprised that she is either unwilling or unable to make adjustments on the faster surfaces,” the former seven-time Grand Slam champion said at a Eurosport event.
“I don’t know if she had a dip in confidence, but if you saw someone like Iga digging in and defending as well as she attacks, that would be hard opponents to overcome. I’m a little surprised she has not made that adjustment, but she is young. Hopefully she can make that adjustment and improve a little at the net.”
McEnroe gives a little break to Swiatek
After sharing what he thinks is an issue with the Pole’s game on hard, the American former world No. 1 also mentioned that competing at the Paris Olympics and playing on clay courts just a few weeks earlier might have played a part in the 2022 US Open champion’s early exit from this year’s tournament edition.
“You can see that all the players who were at the Olympics are struggling physically and mentally. It’s tough to go from clay to grass, back to clay for the Olympics and then straight onto the hard courts. That’s not easy,”McEnroe explained.
“You look at all the guys that won the medals at the Olympics and they lost early at the US Open, especially in the men’s draw. You look at Jessica Pegula not playing the Olympics and she got on a roll on the hard courts, but it was tough for Iga. I’m not close enough to her to know what she needs to do. We know she’s a great player, but she has spoken about scheduling being an issue.”
Swiatek ripped her performance
After having just 12 winners and over 40 unforced errors, the top-seeded Pole acknowledged that she made “too many” mistakes but also made sure to give Pegula credit for the performance she delivered.
“It’s never easy to play against Jess. She has a tricky ball because it’s pretty low and pretty flat. I just made too many mistakes,” the 23-year-old said after the loss.
Then, Swiatek also noted that she wasn’t happy with her serve at all – she didn’t have a single ace and won just 56 percent of her first serve points and 47 percent of her second serve points, respectively.
“I didn’t really understand why my serve wasn’t working,” she admitted.
In the presser, the world No. 1 was also asked if she was thinking of taking a break because she previously complained about the schedule being too demanding.
“I don’t want to take a break. It’s tough. It could be a little bit easier, but I’m keeping up with the schedule. I’m only talking about mandatory tournaments and there are rules about mandatory tournaments. But I’m ready for playing till November, I guess, unless I’m going to get injured,” she responded.
Swiatek could possibly be back in action later this month when the time comes for the WTA 1000 tournament in Beijing.