Swiatek plans to emulate Serena Williams' tactic in handling pressure while at the top

World No.1 Iga Swiatek has revealed the aspect of Serena Williams' game that she is looking to implement into her own performances on the court.

Last weekend, the 21-year-old became the first Polish woman in history to win the US Open — the same tournament where Williams bid farewell to tennis.

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The 23-time Grand Slam champion spent an enormous 319 weeks in total as the world number one and Swiatek is eager to uncover a similar formula to keep herself at the top of the rankings.

"I feel like it’s not every time that I can make use of it [pressure of being at the top],” the new US Open champion told WTATour.com.

“This is the thing that Serena really showed how to do. Because she was at the top for a long time and she was using that pressure and intimidation of being at the top of the game. She used it pretty well to make her matches a little bit easier, especially at the beginning.

“I feel like I was able to do that a couple of times, but I want to do it more often. So for sure I’m aware of that and I want to try and use it in the right way."

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Świątek rose to the top of the WTA rankings in April following the retirement of former world number one Ashleigh Barty. She has enjoyed a superb 2022 which saw her win both the French Open and US Open. The Pole also became just the fourth woman to win the Sunshine Double by securing titles at both Indian Wells and the Miami Open.

Winning doesn’t seem to be any cause for concern for Świątek, but her focus is now on making sure she keeps the World No.1 status for as long as possible.