A look at Iga Swiatek’s 2023 tennis schedule and her results so far this campaign…
The Pole enjoyed an all-conquering 2022 season as she played in 17 tournaments and won eight of them – two of which were Grand Slams at Roland Garros and the US Open. She also rose to No 1 in the WTA Rankings and notched up a 37-match unbeaten run at one point.
Needless to say Swiatek is the player to beat this year, but her season hasn’t exactly been plain-sailing so far.
She started well enough as she won her opening three singles matches at the mixed United Cup, but was then blown away by Jessica Pegula in the semi-final as Poland were hammered 5-0 by the United States.
It was a similar story at the Australian Open as she looked in great form during her first three matches, but was then stunned by Elena Rybakina in straight sets in the fourth round.
wiatek has a lot of points to defend from February until June as she won seven consecutive tournaments. There is always a chance that she will play a reduced schedule so that she can be fresh for the second half of the campaign.
Qatar Open – February 13-19
The Qatar and Dubai events alternate both on the calendar and as WTA 500/1000 events. Last year the Dubai tournament took place first.
Swiatek started her 37-match unbeaten streak at the WTA 1000 Qatar Open as she won the event and she has been confirmed for the 2023 event at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex in Doha. Of course only 470 points will be on offer to the winner this year.
Indian Wells Open – March 6-19
After the Middle Eastern swing, the action moves to the hard-courts of the United States with the WTA 1000 Indian Wells Open first up.
Swiatek is once again the defending champion as she defeated Maria Sakkari in straight sets in 2022.
Miami Open – March 20-27
Swiatek notched a few milestones en route to winning her maiden Miami Open title last year as she became the youngest woman to win the Sunshine Double, although she was the fourth woman overall to win the back-to-back tournaments.
She also became the first woman to win the first three WTA 1000 events of the year as she beat the likes of Coco Gauff, Pegula and Naomi Osaka en route to the title.
Stuttgart Open – April 17-23
The action then moves to Europe for the clay-court season and Swiatek started off in Germany last year and drove off with a Porsche after winning the tournament on her debut.
It is a tricky one for Swiatek, does she defend the 470 points or does she take a breather if she made it to the business end of the three preceding WTA 1000 events?
Madrid Open – April 24-May 1
This is another event with questions marks around it as she skipped the Madrid Open in 2022 due an arm injury and in order to rest.
“I need a break from playing so intensively in order to treat my arm well and that’s why, unfortunately, I have to withdraw from the Mutua Madrd Open. My body needs rest. I’m going to take some time to prepare for Rome and Paris,” she said.
Italian Open – May 8-15
She returned to action in Rome and was back to winning ways as she made it back-to-back trophies at Foro Italico and four WTA 1000 titles in a row with wins over the likes of Sabalenka and Jabeur.
The Pole will be looking to make it three in a row this year.
French Open – May 28-June 11
Roland Garros will give her another opportunity to win a Grand Slam as she will be out to win her second title in Paris and fourth major in total.
Swiatek beat Pegula, Daria Kasatkina and Gauff in her final three matches to lift the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen for a second time.
Wimbledon – July 3-16
After taking a breather between the clay-court major and the grass-court major, Swiatek never really got going at Wimbledon in 2022 as she lost in the third round against Alize Cornet.
The match also ended her 37-match winning streak, but she will be hoping to prove this year that she can win big titles on grass.
Poland Open – July 24-30
Given that is in her home country and on clay, Swiatek will be eager to make up for her quarter-final exit last year and give the locals plenty of reason to celebrate.
Canadian Open – August 7-13
Swiatek’s North American hard-court swing didn’t get off to the best of starts as she exited the Canadian Open in the third round so there is plenty of room for improvement this year.
Cincinnati Open – August 14-20
The Cincinnati Open also didn’t yield much success as she also didn’t make it past the third round in Mason, Ohio. In fact, she is yet to make it past the third round in the back-to-back WTA 1000 events in North America.
US Open – August 28-September 10
But her results in Canada and Ohio were quickly forgotten as she went all the way at Flushing Meadows to win the US Open for the first time.
Asian swing – September 18-October 22
The Pole is yet to compete in an Asian swing as, since she rose to prominence in 2020, the tournaments in the region haven’t been held due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
But it is likely to be a full schedule this year with the Pan Pacific Open (WTA 500), Wuhan Open (WTA 1000) and China Open (WTA 1000) all on the calendar. Although the Chinese events could still be scrapped if no resolution is found in the Peng Shuai case.
Guadalajara Open / Ostrava Open – October 23-29
Swiatek played at the Ostrava Open last year as it took place at the beginning of October and she finished runner-up to Barbora Krejcikova.
She then skipped the Guadalajara Open as it came too soon after the San Diego Open (which dropped off the calendar this year) and she also wanted to take a breather ahead of the WTA Finals.
She might well opt for Ostrava again as it is close to Poland and she had a lot of support there last year.
WTA Finals – October 30-November 5
The WTA Finals is set to return to China (also dependent on the Peng Shuai case) for the first time since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.
If she qualifies, then she will be there and looking to improve on her semi-final from last year.
