Iga Swiatek's coach Piotr Sierzputowski talks about her plans for the 2022 season
Iga Swiatek's coach Piotr Sierzputowski opened up about the 2020 Roland Garros champion's plans for the 2022 season. She'll start off by playing the Africa Cares Women's Tennis Challenge which is to be held on 18 and 19 December, joining fellow former Grand Slam winners Venus Williams and Simona Halep among others.
However, the event is now in jeopardy due to the latest variant of the coronavirus. Sierzputowski said the offer was made to Swiatek quite some time ago and the event could've even gone ahead in 2020, if not for the pandemic. Nevertheless, he belived that it'll be a fun event for her to compete in with her rivals and prepare for Australia.
"The offer was made a long time ago. I suspect that if it weren't for COVID-19, it would have happened in 2020. It is a nice date because it is before our departure to Australia. You can play with interesting rivals, even with guys. It will be fun, but also a little bit of competition. This date is great and I think it will be good to verify before the holidays."
The 2022 WTA season officially kicks off on 3 January, with five WTA events spread across the two weeks leading up to the Australian Open. Swiatek's plan is to compete in one of the events each week -- in Melbourne and Sydney -- while keeping in mind the covid situation and her health. Sierzputowski stated that they want to play as many events as possible, as the tournaments are nice and scheduled quite well.
Swiatek will be seeded for these events, so tournaments can, at their discretion, grant her some leeway and schedule her matches a little later if she makes a deep run at any of the events.
"We want to play two tournaments before the Australian Open. It all depends on Iga's health after the preparatory period and the covid situation. For my part, we want to play everything there is to play. These are really nice tournaments, also a well-arranged calendar. There are two days between Sydney and Melbourne, so even with a great result, there is still time to get there. You can request a later match while you are seeded. It is known that in Grand Slam tournaments the organizers do not have to agree to it, but you should try. I hope that moving there will be very collision-free."
As for Swiatek's long-term plans for the 2022 season, Sierzputowski stated that the plan is for her to play around 18-19 tournaments in all. That number could even go up to 20, provided she stays healthy throughout the year. She's one of the few top players to have played a complete season in 2021, even squeezing in quite a few doubles tournaments.
"If we look at the top players who entered the tour, I will have my hand that no one has played so many tournaments on such a level. However, next season, 18-19 tournaments are already planned. We are still considering one optional one. If health allows, it may happen that we will play 20 tournaments. You must also see that we will play a month longer and there are no games, because Australia, at least in theory, will start at the beginning of January."
Iga Swiatek followed up her 2020 Grand Slam triumph with an impressive 2021 season
Much was expected of Iga Swiatek following her victory at the 2020 French Open, and the 20-year old has continued to rise to the occasion time and time again. She was the only woman to reach at least the fourth round of all Grand Slams this year.
While her title defense came to an end in the quarterfinals at this year's Roland Garros, she did make the finals in doubles there. She won two titles, one at the WTA 1000 in Rome and another at the WTA 500 in Adelaide. Swiatek also qualified for the WTA finals for the first time and reached a career-high ranking of number four.