Watching 2022 US Open champion Iga Swiatek in full flight–screeching across the baseline, sliding into shots, launching airborne to connect with piercing strikes–is fast-becoming a bucket list item in world sport.
The prospect of toppling Swiatek on the biggest stages is already a daunting prospect for the rest of the WTA Tour, but according to her strength and conditioning coach Maciej Ryszczuk, the 22-year-old is nowhere near her physical peak yet.
Over the past three years, Swiatek's fellow Pole has played a significant role in transforming a supremely gifted teenager into a supreme all-conquering athlete.
"She has a little bit of everything, but her movement all over, her capability to change direction is her main power," Ryszczuk recently told USOpen.org, who is also Swiatek's physiotherapist.
"We still have a lot to do with everything, we are not close to the ceiling of her physical performance. We are just dealing with [things] year by year. There's still a lot of work to do."
Just after the US Open three years ago, Ryszczuk joined Swiatek’s team, and within weeks, the Pole lifted her maiden major title at Roland Garros.
"Since then, we've built a bit of strength and more power,” Ryszczuk says. “Her endurance and her speed is at a much higher level. The most important thing is that her muscles have adjusted to the demands of the year, to the demands of the sport."
Add into the mix travelling the globe for 40 weeks per season, the demands that places on a player, and Swiatek's near-weekly presence at the business end of tournaments challenging for the silverware, keeping the world No.1 in such peak physical condition week-in and week-out is a real balance.
"It's not easy,” Ryszczuk says. “It's important not to do too much. To program everything, to plan the season, there isn’t much time for workout or lots of exercises. It's about adjusting to what time is available, she needs to rest, to recover and to then build up again. Our main goal at any time is to keep her fresh."
Ryszczuk's life motto is a simple, "Impossible things don't exist," with commitment and willpower key components to achieving goals. Swiatek appears to compete in that mold, as she’s as zoned in and as dedicated as they come. But even though she’s already carving out a generational career, she is human and can struggle with the all-encompassing requirements at the summit of elite sports.
"I'd say 99% of athletes I've worked with don't like this kind of work."
"In one way she is very hard working, like everyone–when she's feeling comfortable she's pretty happy to do more,” Ryszczuk says. “The main thing is to push players into uncomfortable zones in workouts, to make her feel comfortable in being uncomfortable.
"When there is this kind of workout, maybe she's not the happiest person on the planet, and she's a little bit afraid of these workouts.
"It can be more of an endurance thing, with high intensity, going from anaerobic to aerobic work. Let's say you have 20-30 seconds of high intensity or running and without breaks, then it's not pleasant for anyone.
"I'd say 99% of athletes I've worked with don't like this kind of work."
Ryszczuk has worked with a plethora of leading Polish athletes across different sports as well as a couple of other tennis talents. His work has no major thrills; it's all about trusting the tried and tested to incrementally build. But it's not just one voice. Swiatek’s whole team has an input in the physical development of the defending US Open champion.
"I'm a really basic guy. I try to keep what's working for us. Even if it's boring, I don’t care," he continues. "We are always doing a lot of tests. I have built up a lot of data. We try to be objective looking at the data. If she can sprint faster, or throw the medicine ball further, then we know it's working.
"Of course, a subjective point of view is also important. During a program she needs to feel it; after, to feel fresh and not like we killed her in training for two months. I'm using objective data and then obviously ask her how she feels, then we make sure we are on the same page as Iga's coach [Tomasz Wiktorowski], too."
The relentless tennis schedule, the worldwide journey, the theater of sitting courtside, the backstage processes–it's one hell of a ride being part of a four-time Grand Slam winning team.
"It's demanding,” Ryszczuk says. “Not Iga as a person; it's more like it's very demanding when you realize that behind the player, there is also the pressure; that's money wise, performance and title wise.
"Everyone expects a lot from Iga. Everything we do influences her body and then her titles, and so on. It's a little bit of pressure, but we just focus on it day by day."
Swiatek’s evolving rapidly, but what's the next step?
"The most important is to keep her healthy. From year to year, we have our program, and we are just working and going step by step," Ryszczuk muses. "We are not making a lot of changes. It's not easy to pinpoint one thing; we are trying to improve in every single physical aspect of Iga's play.
"As much as it is possible to go higher, to improve, we will try to do it."
