BY JAMES BECK
Iga Swiatek is back.
Or maybe she never really went away.
It’s just that everyone got accustomed to seeing her win tournaments, such as two French Opens and last year’s U.S. Open as well as 37 wins in a row not too long ago.
Losing in the semifinals at Indian Wells in March to big-serving Elena Rybakina while suffering a rib injury that would keep her out of the big Miami event and the Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers, her fans held their breath going into last week’s Stuttgart event in Germany.
DON’T BET AGAINST IGA WINNING AGAIN
Had the fans seen the best of the Polish star, and would Aryna Sabalenka and Rybakina take over the women’s game?
But Swiatek stressed going into the Stuttgart that she really is well.
Sabalenka learned that the hard way in Sunday’s final. Swiatek was her old self. Her game was spectacular again as she won the last three games of the first set and first two games of the second set. And that was about it, a 6-3, 6-4 victory.
Even with her awesome power, Sabalenka couldn’t match Swiatek’s creative game.
No one in the women’s game steps in and cuts balls off, and sends them to a different corner better or quicker than Swiatek. Her change of directions in a rally are a work of art.
And don’t give her a short ball inside the service line. She practically dances in and puts the ball away with a ground stroke before her opponent even realizes what’s happening.
The 21-year-old Polish Wonder defends about as well or better than anyone on the WTA Tour.
She is certainly no Sabalenka in power or size. Yet, Swiatek dictates play against Sabalenka, especially on red clay.
A third French Open title for Swiatek looks like a safe bet.
THE OLD-TIMERS MIGHT NOT GO AWAY
And what about 32-year-old Serbian Dusan Lajovic?
He’s no kid, but he didn’t just win the Banja Luka Open on Sunday.
He upset world’s No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals in a battle of Serbians. Scoring a win over No. 2 seed Andrey Rublev of Russia in Sunday’s final was just icing on the cake.
Both of those wins stunned the red-clay world.
Lajovic jumped up to No. 40 in the world rankings. The Serbian just doesn’t know the world ‘quit.’
I know everyone knows about these two unthinkable turn of events by now, but there probably were not many tennis fans watching these two major upsets by Lajovic.
Lajovic is everywhere. He charges the next at will or hits winners from the baseline. He gets everything in sight.
What does all of this mean? It means he’s capable of making trouble for almost anyone he faces in Paris, except maybe Carlos Alcaraz.
YOUNGER GUYS TAKING OVER
Alcaraz is back on his game after his shocking loss to Jannik Sinner in the Miami semifinals.
Stefanos Tsitsipas really didn’t give the Spanish star a true test, winning only seven games in the Barcelona final.
The 19-year-old Alcaraz has the world’s greatest drop shot.
Even speedy Dane Holger Rune probably would have trouble with Alcaraz’s spectacular drop shots if he happens to run into the world’s No. 2 player the next few weeks on Europe’s red clay.
Rune, of course, also is 19 years old. He will turn 20 on Saturday, and Alcaraz will reach that stage of adult hood the following Friday. Maybe they’ll run into each other on the court by the time both hit the magic age.
Watch out Novak and Rafa, and even Jannik and Daniil (Medvedev). The younger guys may be taking over the headlines by the time the tour hits Wimbledon.
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James Beck was the 2003 winner of the USTA National Media Award. A 1995 MBA graduate of The Citadel, he can be reached at Jamesbecktennis@gmail.com.
