Iga Swiatek Compared to Roger Federer in Hot Take by Legendary Grand Slam Coach

Entering the US Open, the stakes were high for Iga Swiatek. The Pole had rediscovered her prime form and had won the Wimbledon and Cincinnati Masters titles. Moreover, she had a chance to reclaim the World Number 1 ranking, a position she had once held for 11 months. Eventually, fatigue and injury came back to haunt Swiatek as she bowed out of the US Open in the semifinal. Swiatek lost out to Amanda Anisimova in straight sets, a player whom she had inflicted a double bagel on just months ago in the Wimbledon final. Amid this tough loss for Swiatek, she received some encouragement from legendary coach Rick Macci.

After a barren first half of the season, Swiatek came back strongly to win the Wimbledon title. One of the things that she improved upon massively was her slice backhand, and Macci backed Swiatek to use this weapon like Roger Federer did over the years.

Taking to his official X handle, Macci wrote, “Everybody is going to lose and fail but the Punisher the rest of the year will sail. Number one is down the street as she will grow stronger from this defeat. Her game is getter better and better and I would love to see her slice backhand become like Federer.”

Take the example of her Cincinnati Open semifinal win over Elena Rybakina. Her slice backhand was on display often, and she turned defense into offense on multiple occasions to prevail in straight sets in that encounter. Federer’s slice was both an offensive and defensive weapon, capable of instilling a false sense of security in his opponent before going in for the kill.

And if Swiatek can make the shot hers, it could be a secret weapon against the rest of the field. As ex-pro Ashleigh Barty once said, “On the women’s side, it’s just rare. There aren’t too many girls that have a slice backhand.”

Nonetheless, Swiatek was disappointed with the way her US Open journey ended. Following her loss to Anisimova, Swiatek shared a message on social media about her injury setback.

Iga Swiatek reflects on a difficult US Open run

Having played back-to-back tournaments, things were going to get tough for Iga Swiatek. During her semifinal encounter, Swiatek’s foot injury was aggravated, and she had difficulty moving. On the other hand, Anisimova was on top of her game and turned the tide by defeating Siwatek in straight sets. After the match, Swiatek took to her official Instagram handle to express her disappointment.

She wrote, “This time @usopen was challenging for me and for my team (I’m really grateful guys, thank you for helping me with this and also big thanks to WTA physios and US Open doctors). Playing matches without practicing on days off, managing foot issue, pushing through a lot…we made it to the quarterfinals with a lot on our plate and I’m pretty proud of what I did in these circumstances.”

Further, she also went on to add, “And more importantly of the experience I gained. I’ll be back next year with a lot of determination. Now it’s time to get some rest, take care of the body and grind more in Asia. See you soon!”

While her dream of returning to the top spot in the WTA rankings might be over this year, Iga Swiatek hopes to come back strongly during the upcoming Asian swing. A good run there would surely have Swiatek in contention to take the World Number 1 spot early next year.