Iga Swiatek

Iga Swiatek: the Polish tennis player with serious power

Iga Swiatek was born on 31 May 2001 in Warsaw. Her father Tomasz competed at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul as a rower in the Polish coxless four. Iga took up tennis because she wanted to beat her older sister. Today she is the first Polish tennis player to win a Grand Slam tournament, having triumphed at the French Open in 2020.

Swiatek likes to strike the ball as early as possible on the rise, and between her high racquet-head speed, excellent footwork and tactical smarts, she holds all the aces. Just as notable is her calm demeanour and composure even under pressure, with her work alongside a sports psychologist clearly paying off. Clay is her favourite surface. In 2020, Iga Swiatek was named WTA Fan Favourite Singles Player of the Year.

Triumph at the French Open 2020

Swiatek already made a name for herself as a junior back in 2018, winning the junior singles title at Wimbledon and the junior doubles title at the French Open alongside Catherine McNally.

Her biggest breakthrough came in 2020. She reached the fourth round at the Australian Open and the third round at the US Open. At the French Open, she beat top seed Simona Halep 6-1, 6-2 in the round of 16, cruised into her first Grand Slam final without dropping a set, and went on to beat Sofia Kenin in two sets. The title catapulted Swiatek to 17th in the world rankings and made history: she became the youngest French Open champion since Monica Seles in 1992.

World No. 1 and a Paris hat-trick

In early 2022, Swiatek reached the semi-finals at the Australian Open. She then won three WTA 1000 tournaments in the space of a few weeks in stunning fashion. On 4 April 2022, she crowned her run by becoming world No. 1 in women's tennis – the first Polish player ever to do so. In June 2022, she triumphed again at the French Open, beating American Coco Gauff in the final. She underlined her dominance with an impressive 37-match winning streak.

In the 2022 US Open final, the Pole continued her run of success, beating Ons Jabeur comfortably in two sets to become the first Polish player to win the US Open women's singles title. She went on to win the French Open again in 2023, along with the season-ending WTA Finals in Cancún. In 2024, too, Swiatek conquered the French capital, claiming her third French Open title in a row – her self-declared favourite tournament on clay.

In 2025, Iga Swiatek finally made the leap many had been waiting for: she won Wimbledon, her first Grand Slam title away from clay, completing her collection of titles on all three surfaces. It was already her sixth Grand Slam crown. The 2026 season has been more up and down for the Pole so far: after a fairly subdued start and her split from coach Wim Fissette in March 2026, she is now working with Francisco Roig. Despite a few surprise early exits, Swiatek – a six-time Grand Slam champion and former world No. 1 – remains one of the very best players in the world and a genuine title contender at every Grand Slam.

Iga Swiatek's offensive, versatile playing style

Standing 1.76m tall, Iga Swiatek plays a highly aggressive and versatile brand of tennis. Her very offensive style earns her plenty of outright winners, but also leads to a fair number of avoidable errors. She herself describes her tactics on clay as a combination of a powerful serve, heavy forehand topspin and a down-the-line backhand. She sets up her points carefully and has the patience to wait for the right opening before going for the winner.

Both her forehand and two-handed backhand carry huge amounts of power. She hits her forehand with an extreme western grip and heavy topspin. During her 2020 French Open triumph, her average forehand speed reached 118 km/h – well ahead of every other player in the field. Her backhand speed is similarly exceptional: she hit a peak of 122 km/h at the 2020 French Open, again the highest figure of any player, roughly matching the backhand speed of Dominic Thiem, who has the fastest backhand on the men's tour.

Swiatek frequently comes forward to the net and, thanks to her doubles experience, boasts an excellent volley too. Her first serve reaches a top speed of 183 km/h and averages 166 km/h. That powerful serve lets her dictate rallies from the very first shot and usually helps her hold her own service games with ease. She skilfully mixes kick and slice serves, both of which she also uses as a second serve, and loves to surprise opponents with drop shots and other eye-catching plays – a spectacular cross-court drop shot from the baseline earned her the WTA Tour's "Shot of the Year" award in 2019.

Iga Swiatek's kit: Tecnifibre racquets and On outfits

When she won her first Grand Slam title in 2020, Iga Swiatek was still playing with a Prince racquet, before switching to Tecnifibre in January 2021. She worked directly with Tecnifibre's engineers on the development of her own model: the Tempo 298 IG she tested and signed off on has since evolved into the T-Fight I.G. signature line, which pairs a balanced weight distribution with XTC fibre inserts to combine speed with controlled power. For clothing and footwear, she relies on Swiss brand On, including pieces from "The Roger" line developed together with Roger Federer.

At Tennis-Point you'll find the Tecnifibre signature racquet as well as On tennis clothing and On tennis shoes, plus a huge range of top products from all the leading tennis brands used by the tennis pros on the WTA Tour.