Will Iga Świątek follow in Steffi Graf’s footsteps? Brings the tennis legend down to earth

Iga Świątek and the Polish team compete in the United Cup. It is also a chance to prepare well for the upcoming Australian Open. The Pole cannot consider last year’s edition of AO to be extremely successful, but after the great end of last season, everyone has a big appetite.

The tennis legend does not give much chance to Świątek

The Polish representative returned to the leader’s seat, pushing Aryna Sabalenka to second place. She will enter the tournament in Melbourne as the highest-seeded player, which means that a possible clash with the Belarusian will only take place in the final. The upcoming season will be full of many tournaments. In addition to the four Grand Slam events, this year the athletes will be competing in the Olympic Games.

The Olympic tennis tournament will be held on the Roland Garros courts, which bring back good memories on Świątek. She has already won three times in Paris, so it can be expected that when she is in full health and shape, she will be the favorite in the competition. There are already voices about whether the Pole is able to follow in the footsteps of Steffi Graf. In 1988, the German was unrivaled in each of the four Grand Slam tournaments, as well as during the Olympic competition in Seoul. This allowed her to complete the first (and only so far in the history of tennis) Golden Slam. When Świątek was asked about the chances of a similar feat, Pam Shriver, former WTA ranking leader (in doubles) and winner of the Career Gold Slam in doubles, said that the 22-year-old had only a percent chance.

– I would say one percent. Maybe I’d give it five percent. Look, there’s a reason it was only done once. It was, of course, Steffi Graf, Shriver said during a discussion with one of the users on Twitter Spaces.

Iga Świątek and performances at the Olympic Games

Świątek has so far only participated in one edition of the Olympic Games. In Tokyo three years ago, she was eliminated in the second round of singles and in the quarterfinals of mixed doubles (against Łukasz Kubot).