How Rafael Nadal and Iga Swiatek's finish to the season throws light on the challenge of emulating early-season peak performance at the end of the year
Rafael Nadal and Iga Swiatek's campaigns in the ATP Finals and WTA Finals respectively have added to a telling trend on the pro tennis circuit in recent years. Nadal's struggles in the 2022 ATP Finals and Swiatek's inability to extend her season-long dominance at the business end of the 2022 WTA Finals brightly highlighted why emulating peak performance from the start of the season towards the end of the season is becoming increasingly difficult.
Nadal produced a career-best start to the season in 2022, winning his first three tournaments, including the Australian Open, and winning his first 20 matches this year. He went on to add to his dream run with his 14th French Open title. His winning streak at the Grand Slams this season only ended after he was forced to withdraw before the Wimbledon semifinals. Unfortunate injury troubles, coupled with wear and tear, then set in for Nadal, whose end to the season was unimpressive by his high standards - highlighted by a first-round exit at the Paris Masters and a group-stage exit at the ATP Finals.
But it is not just Nadal who has been unable to emulate a peak start to the season towards the end of it. On the men's circuit, Novak Djokovic remains the last player to win both the Australian Open (the first Grand Slam of the year) and the ATP Finals in the same season, and he last did the double back in 2015.
It is fair to say that the nine-time Australian Open winner would have been a clear favorite for the Melbourne Major had he gotten to compete there in 2022 and could have completed the Australian Open-ATP Finals double, having won the season finale this past Sunday. However, Djokovic has won the Australian Open four more times since 2015 (2016 and 2019-21) but failed to win the ATP Finals on all four occasions, showing how difficult it is to hit the season-starting peak at the tail end of an intense tennis calendar.
Meanwhile, on the women's circuit, no player has won the Australian Open and WTA Finals in the same year since 2009, with Serena Williams being the last player to do so. Swiatek did not win the Australian Open this year, but her run to the semifinals in Melbourne kicked off a season in which she has dominated like very few other players have done in a single year in tennis history. Swiatek's record 37-match unbeaten run started at the Qatar Open in February and ended with a third-round loss at Wimbledon, during which she won a staggering six consecutive tournaments.
Swiatek was strong towards the end of the season as well, but could not quite match her incredibly high standards all year in the season-ending WTA Finals, losing to Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinals, where the fatigue seemed to have set in towards the end of the tournament.
Rafael Nadal plans to brush aside poor end to 2022 season and aim for another stellar start in 2023
Rafael Nadal's long wait for a maiden ATP Finals title will continue for at least another year. However, he is keen to get over the disappointing end to his 2022 season and do everything in his power to be ready for his title defense at the 2023 Australian Open. The Spaniard hopes to use the pre-season to fine-tune his game and capitalize on the freshness ahead of the start of the season in Australia.
Despite having new responsibilities in terms of family, the Spaniard feels that he needs to go to Australia early to give himself the best shot at the Melbourne Major.
"Australia going to be a challenge, of course, but it's the beginning of the season. Hard court, I played well plenty of times, even if I only won twice," Nadal said in a press conference at the ATP Finals.
"But just excited I going to be there. If nothing goes wrong, going to be there early. That's what I need. Even if it's an effort for me and sacrifice to go very early from home, I think that's what I need to do after what happened the last five months," he added.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion will also participate in the newly-launched United Cup, a mixed-team ATP-WTA tournament, where he will represent Spain.