Swiatek prepares for tough return to hardcourt tennis at Cincinnati Open

OHIO: Iga Swiatek, the world’s top-ranked tennis player, is set to make her return to hardcourt tennis at the Cincinnati Open with a pragmatic approach. Despite her impressive run of victories on clay earlier this year, including titles at Madrid, Rome, and the French Open, Swiatek is not setting sky-high expectations for her hardcourt performance as she transitions back to this surface.

Having last competed on hardcourts at the Miami Open in March, Swiatek acknowledged the challenges that come with the switch. “I know that the first tournament on hardcourts isn’t going to be easy,” Swiatek remarked. The Polish star will begin her Cincinnati campaign in the second round, where she is set to face either Ajla Tomljanovic or Varvara Gracheva.

Rather than putting undue pressure on herself, the 23-year-old sees the Cincinnati Open as an opportunity to hone her game in preparation for the U.S. Open. “I’m going to try to treat it as a practice tournament, but not in a way that I don’t care,” Swiatek explained. “More in a way that I want to implement all the stuff that I practiced on.”