Ominous signs as Iga Swiatek admits she hasn't played best match tactically from 'start to finish' yet against rivals

Iga Swiatek will face Aryna Sabalenka tonight in the final of the 2024 Madrid Open but despite being one of the most resolute players on the tour and one that has a psychologist to maintain this aura of being unbreakable admits she does drift and hasn't yet reached her peak against her rivals.

One of those rivals is her next opponent in the form of Sabalenka who she leads 6-3 against, but ominously given her level on clay, she made the admission that she has yet to implement how she should. It would be a first Madrid title for Swiatek and the final tick in her clay court box after winning Rome and Roland Garros multiple times.

“In most of these matches you can see the result, but there is a lot beyond that to work on,” Swiatek said in her press conference. I wouldn’t say it was easy because at the beginning I didn’t have much time to adapt to the conditions and that’s what I had to do during the tournament.

“But overall my matches have been pretty good, playing efficiently. So I am happy to be able to play like this and to be fresh even before the final. I would be lying if I said I didn’t have random thoughts. I have them, but the question is what are you going to do with them.

“I wouldn’t say my approach is constant always because some days are better and some days are worse, but even if with a little bit worse, I know I can still play good tennis and win.”

“I wouldn’t say we’re trying to figure it out because we know how it should play, but it hasn’t been easy to implement at times,” she added. So I still feel like I haven’t played that match where you play better tactically from start to finish against these players.

“That’s something I want to improve. It’s not that we need to change many things, but we do have to stick to the plan and sometimes I have to apply it a little better.”