It says much about Iga Swiatek that although she began and ended 2023 ranked No 1, she rarely felt more like the world’s best player than when she wasn’t.
Swiatek’s 75-week stay at the top of the pile officially ended on 11 September, the day after Coco Gauff lifted a US Open trophy that was wrenched from the Pole’s grasp by Jelena Ostapenko, who battered 31 winners to end Swiatek’s title defence in round four. As the dust settled on that loss, and Aryna Sabalenka ascended to No 1, it was natural to wonder what the future held for the 22-year-old. There was not long to dwell on that question: by 6 November, Swiatek had not only reclaimed top spot but also emerged, technically and tactically, as a more complete player. It was evolution on fast forward.
No player goes through a season without encountering setbacks. Yet it is in adversity that reputations are forged, and it is in their ability to rebound from such moments that the greatest champions are measured. Take Novak Djokovic, who responded to the loss of his Wimbledon title by winning 19 straight matches, four titles, including the US Open and the ATP Finals, and finishing the year at No 1 for an eighth time. Swiatek’s response to relinquishing her Flushing Meadows crown wasn’t quite of that order, yet the humility, courage and resolve with which she recovered from that nadir was barely less impressive.
In the immediate aftermath of defeat to Ostapenko, Swiatek reflected on the loss of the No 1 ranking with a mixture of sadness and relief. For nine long months, Sabalenka had pursued the Pole relentlessly, determined to fulfil her late father’s dream that she should one day stand on top of the world. Combined with the pressure of living up to the previous year, a theme to which Swiatek returned frequently in the opening months of the season, the physical, mental and emotional toll was substantial. Yet even at that most challenging of moments, she had the self-awareness to recognise her shortcomings and acknowledge the need for improvement.
“It was pretty exhausting,” said Swiatek in New York. “I still need to do all this stuff that my team and all these great players like Roger [Federer] or Novak [Djokovic] or Rafa [Nadal] are telling about: you just have to focus on the tournaments, not the rankings.
“All these great players know it’s going to come back if you’re going to work hard, focus on the right things, just develop as a player.”
Develop she did, shrugging off a career-first defeat to Veronika Kudermetova later that month in Tokyo to embark on a late-season tear that brought 11 consecutive victories, a WTA 1000 crown in Beijing, and a first WTA Finals title in the most challenging conditions imaginable. The steel she showed to take down Sabalenka for the loss of just five games before sealing her return to No 1 with the final ball of the season in a 6-0, 6-1 demolition of Jessica Pegula was remarkable. But it was the fresh dimensions to her game that Swiatek showcased in the final weeks of the season that most caught the eye.
Chief among those additions was an increased willingness to venture to the net, and a notable improvement in her technique once there. As we noted at the time, the most visible difference was on the forehand volley, which became more compact and aggressive. There were also signs that Swiatek was dispensing with an awkward tendency to grip the throat or head of the racket with her left hand on the backhand volley, resulting in a smoother, more consistent stroke.
Naturally, those advances were not made overnight. The seeds were sown at least as early as Bad Homburg, where Swiatek made her first senior grass-court semi-final this summer. But it takes time on the practice court to make technical changes stick, and the treadmill of the tour allows precious little breathing space in that respect. Afforded a precious window to work on her game after the US Open, Swiatek made the most of it, expanding her repertoire – and therefore her tactical options – and emerging a better, more versatile player as a result.
There was little to choose between Swiatek and Sabalenka until the final few weeks of the season. Sabalenka won a maiden grand slam title in Australia, Swiatek a third French Open in four years. The Belarusian was more consistent at the majors, making the semi-finals or better at all four, while Swiatek’s best showing outside of Paris was a first Wimbledon quarter-final. But the authority with which the Pole triumphed in Beijing, where she won different matches in different ways, charging the net against Sara Sorribes Tormo, holding her nerve in a tight quarter-final against Caroline Garcia, and then blowing away Liudmila Samsonova in the final without making a single unforced error, bore a significance beyond the immediate. As Sabalenka fell to Elena Rybakina in the last eight, the feeling grew that Swiatek was once again in the ascendant.
It all came down to a chaotic week in Cancún, where the Pole needed an unblemished title runto be certain of denying Sabalenka the year-end No 1 ranking. She produced exactly that, shrugging off one of the tournament’s numerous rain delays to subdue the Belarusian with a performance of sweeping aggression and intensity. It was arguably her finest match of the season.
Swiatek finished the year with six titles – twice as many as her arch-rival – as well as more victories and fewer defeats (68-11 versus Sabalenka’s 55-14). Sabalenka never quite seemed the same after losing the US Open final to Coco Gauff, although that did not prevent the ITF from naming her world champion for 2023. Swiatek, for her part, collected a second consecutive WTA player of the year award. That both accolades felt deserved only emphasises how fine the margins between the pair were.
Ultimately, though, Swiatek came good when it mattered. For her strength in adversity and willingness to improve at a time when her season was at its lowest ebb, she deserves to be recognised as the best player of 2023.
