Swiatek draws confidence from positive progress ahead of US Open

Six-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek says recent improvements have given her renewed confidence after what she considers the toughest season of her career, as she prepares to challenge for her first major title of 2026 at the US Open.

The 25-year-old Pole endured an unusually difficult first half of the season by her own high standards.

Swiatek reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open before losing to eventual champion Elena Rybakina. She then suffered a fourth-round exit at Roland Garros, a tournament where she has enjoyed remarkable success, before being knocked out in the third round at Wimbledon, where she had been the defending champion.

Now ranked eighth in the world, Swiatek finally found her breakthrough earlier this month by defeating Rybakina in the Canadian Open final to claim her first title of the season.

The victory provided a timely confidence boost ahead of the final Grand Slam of the year.

Since winning her maiden major title at Roland Garros in 2020, Swiatek has captured at least one Grand Slam trophy in every season since 2022. She will be determined to keep that impressive streak alive in New York.

Swiatek Reflects on Challenging Season

Swiatek admitted that the season has been a difficult one, particularly after making a coaching change before the clay-court swing.

“For me, for sure, it wasn’t an easy season,” Swiatek said on Saturday. “Probably the toughest one and the most challenging.”

The former world No. 1 began working with Francisco Roig before the clay season and faced the challenge of putting new ideas into practice without having as much preparation time as she would have liked.

“Obviously, I had to change coaches before the clay-court season, which was a tricky situation,” Swiatek said. “Then I started working with Francis (Francisco Roig), and just wanted to implement all the stuff that we did in practice.”

After Wimbledon, however, Swiatek was able to take some time away from competition and enjoy a longer training period.

“I didn’t have a lot of practice time. So probably it calmed down; everything calmed down after Wimbledon. I managed to get some days off, reset a little bit, and we had a much longer training block.”

That additional preparation time allowed her to work more effectively on the changes she had been making with Roig.

“So it really helped me to just implement this stuff that I was talking about.”

Canadian Open Victory Provides Timely Boost

Swiatek believes her performances at the Canadian Open and Cincinnati Open have shown clear signs of improvement.

Despite losing to Jessica Pegula in the Cincinnati semi-finals, Swiatek was encouraged by the level of tennis she produced against the American.

“The last two tournaments (Canadian Open and Cincinnati Open) were super positive,” she said.

“Even though I lost in Cincinnati, this match against Jess (Jessica Pegula in the semi-finals) was really high level.”

The Pole now heads into the US Open feeling more comfortable with her game and the adjustments she has made during the season.

“So I feel happy with my game and with the changes that I made. Just looking forward now.”

Swiatek Chasing Another Deep US Open Run

Swiatek can also take confidence from her previous success at Flushing Meadows.

She won the 2022 US Open, claiming her second Grand Slam title, but has been unable to reach the semi-finals in either of the past two editions. She lost in the quarter-finals on both occasions.

This year, Swiatek will begin her campaign against China’s Wang Xiyu.

With the men’s and women’s singles main draws getting underway on Sunday, Swiatek will hope her recent resurgence can carry over to the hard courts of New York and put her back in contention for another Grand Slam crown.

US Open 2026

The US Open is the fourth and final Grand Slam tournament of the tennis season, taking place from August 30 to September 13.

The tournament is played on hard courts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, and brings together the world’s leading players for two weeks of Grand Slam action.