The 2003 US Open champion believes Swiatek is similar to Federer in the way she is “such a good front-runner” and feels her confidence “grows exponentially when she gets out in front.”
Swiatek eased to a 6-4, 6-0 victory over world No 9 Maria Sakkari in the Indian Wells final last week after losing just five points in a dominant second set.
The world No 1 did not drop a set and lost no more than four games in any set during an imperious run to her second Indian Wells crown, having also beaten Sakkari in the 2022 final. The four-time Grand Slam champion has now won 19 WTA titles — eight of which have come at WTA 1000 level.
Since losing in the third round at the 2024 Australian Open, Swiatek has been the player to beat, having also claimed the Doha title and reached the Dubai semi-finals at the back-to-back WTA 1000 tournaments in February.
The 22-year-old Pole will now aim to win the Miami Open to complete the ‘Sunshine Double’ for the second time, having achieved the impressive feat in 2022. She will face Camila Giorgi in her opening match in Miami.
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“Iga Swiatek didn’t drop a set on her way to the women’s title and is such a good front-runner. It’s similar to Roger Federer – once he got a break in the first set and got comfortable, it was tough to lasso him and bring him back in,” the 41-year-old American told Betway.
“Iga is the same way. Her confidence grows exponentially when she gets out in front and, when she gets into tournaments, she becomes very tough to beat.
“She has now gone deep in her last three events. With four majors, eight Masters 1000s titles and 19 tournament wins, she is very quickly entering the realm of passing some heady names, and she’s still only 22 years old.
“If she wins one Slam this year then she’ll match Maria Sharapova. If she wins two, then she’ll be right behind Justine Henin and Venus Williams on seven. Even though she’s No 1 in the world, it’s almost like her career has been undersold to this point.”
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