Iga Swiatek is on a comeback tour. Or at least what constitutes one for a player who hasn't been ranked outside the Top 10 since October 2021.
The No. 2 seed, who has spent 125 as the world No. 1 and claimed six Grand Slam titles, including the 2022 US Open has been showing some of her best tennis. The Pole had an uncharacteristic dry spell after Roland Garros in 2024, not lifting another trophy until she claimed the 2025 Wimbledon title, followed by the Cincinnati title last week.
That win launched her back into the Top 2 after she dropped to No. 8 earlier this year for the first time since February 2022—and the fact that this is a significant slide for her speaks volumes about her solid position at the top of the sport.
Last year's Cincinnati champions lifted the US Open trophies, so Swiatek could easily be considered a favorite in this year's tournament, but made it clear that while she knows about the expectations placed on her, she thinks the field is wide open.
"Honestly, I already think it doesn't make sense to call anyone the favorite," she said in a Saturday press conference. "Women's tennis, I wouldn't say it's unpredictable because there are some girls that are constantly in the top and we are proving that we can play well throughout the whole season, [but] there are many players that play really good and can win the tournament.
"I got used to the expectations. Obviously, after winning so many things, they are always going to be there."
She showed her mettle last week at Flushing Meadows, reaching the mixed doubles final with Casper Ruud, playing lights-out tennis in the first two rounds on Tuesday, jumping on court just 12 hours after arriving at her New York hotel after her Cincinnati win.
She started working with coach Wim Fisette last October, and although it took a while for titles to pour in, she reached the semifinals of the Australian Open, Doha, Indian Wells, Madrid and Roland Garros thanks to some adjustments to her game, which is typically suited for slower surfaces like clay. In fact, she said in Cincinnati that she has considered Wimbledon and Cincy two of the hardest tournaments to win due to the past-faced courts.
"We really focused on that. The whole preseason was basically all about that. I already could use some of these new skills that I learned in Australia, but later on, I think the season got a bit more complicated from other perspectives, so I wasn't in a really good zone to win the tournaments," she said.
"But I would say after Roland Garros I kind of got back to my usual self. I would say the process of learning all this stuff that I learned in preseason kind of came back, and for sure I used it on Wimbledon and on hard court in Cincinnati. And we'll see what's going to come next."
