Iga Swiatek sees some tournaments as practice tournaments as she revealed ahead of the 2024 Cincinnati Open (Western & Southern Open).
Using the words ‘practice tournament’ for a tournament as big as a WTA 1000 level event is not something many tennis players do, but when it comes to the Polish player, she is simply being honest.
The world number one is known to be a very honest tennis player and that is just his opinion. He last competed at the Paris Olympics and finished third and took home the bronze medal.
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It was not the medal he was after but he blamed himself for it. He could not perform at his best in the most important match against Zheng Qinwen and that is a loss he will have to live with for a while.
After skipping the Canadian Open in Montreal to rest, the Polish player will be back in action at the Cincinnati Open. He does not have high expectations as it is his first hard-court tournament in a while.
It’s been a few months since she last played a hard-court match and there are a lot of things that will make it challenging to adjust quickly. She will use Cincinnati as a tournament to get her used to the hard courts again.
“I feel like after the Olympics I had to reset things, just focus on getting my technique back, and working on the court. This is the perfect place to do that. I think I’ll get into a different rhythm here, where we just focus on the training and that’s it. And I think that helps me to rest off the court. I don’t expect to take a break in the middle of the season, so I don’t think about it at all,” Iga Swiatek said.
“With the change in court surfaces and balls, you can’t just expect constant progress. You have to focus on adjusting and that’s what I’m doing right now.”
Having received a first-round bye, Swiatek will open her Cincinnati Open against Australian Ajla Tomljnovic or a qualifier or lucky loser.
