Swiatek and Alcaraz keen to build on victories so far
TENNIS has been ambushed by the future in 2022 and two names are on everyone’s lips at Roland Garros.
Iga Swiatek goes into the year’s second grand slam as a clear world number one and title favourite for every tournament she plays while, a couple of weeks after his 19th birthday, Carlos Alcaraz has shaken up the top of men’s tennis.
Ashleigh Barty’s shock retirement when she seemed set to dominate women’s tennis might have left a void, but Swiatek, who does not turn 21 until midway through the French Open, has swept in with successive titles in Doha, Indian Wells, Miami, Stuttgart and Rome.
The Pole is not a new name, having burst into the spotlight with a sensational run to the French Open title in 2020, but she has clearly marked herself out from the raft of other one-time major champions of recent years by the way she has built on her breakthrough success.
“I feel like I’m a different player right now,” said Swiatek. “Last year I feel like I still was trying to find some kind of consistency in the wins that I had, and also confirmation that Roland Garros wasn’t just a one-off tournament.
“I feel like I found that and I feel like I can move forward and just focus on my next goals.
“For sure the tournaments that I played this year, they have shown me that I can play better tennis on hard courts.
“The transition that I have to do to clay, it’s pretty different because usually it was like, ‘Whoa, clay, now I can play well’. I feel like my level was high anyway. Hopefully I’m just going to be able to enjoy tennis as much as I did for the whole season.”
Alcaraz had to come through the qualifying tournament at Roland Garros last year, but looks set to be a fixture at the top of the sport for years to come. He has won four titles already in 2022 including the Masters events in Miami and Madrid, where he defeated Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev in successive matches. He makes no secret of his ambition, telling Marca: “My goal until the end of the year is to try to win one of the grand slams. It is a great motivation for me and I will fight for it.”