Iga Swiatek 'not yet peaked' and ready to rock at Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships

Polish world No 1 ready to make her mark in UAE tournament fresh from clinching Doha title

World No 1 Iga Swiatek ahead of the 2023 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships . Getty

If musical taste can be a reflection of one's personality, then perhaps a similar correlation can be applied to Iga Swiatek and her tennis style.

High-octane and powerful, with the ability to whip the crowd into a frenzy – little wonder, then, that the world No 1 is a big fan of rock and roll.

"I did change [my playlist] a little bit, but it's still rock," Swiatek said on Monday. "It's still Red Hot Chili Peppers, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin."

Swiatek, 21, arrived in Dubai this week after a heavy-metal display in Doha, crashing her way to the title for the loss of just five games in three matches. In those three matches, she secured a 6-0 set in each.

Given the incomparable standards she set last season – eight titles, two Grand Slams, miles clear at the top of the standings – this year started a little out of tune; a one-sided defeat to Jessica Pegula at the United Cup, preceding a fourth-round exit at the Australian Open, albeit to eventual finalist and Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina.

Yet, the manner of victory last week at the Qatar Open suggests Swiatek is very much back on song as the Pole prepares to begin her Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships campaign.

"I really used the time after the Australian Open to reset mentally and focus on working on my technique," Swiatek said. "I learned a lesson from my last match in Australia; that I have to be there, energetically, on court and run a little bit more, give more. In Doha I was able to do that."

Lessons Swiatek will no doubt will carry forward into this week in Dubai, where she gets underway in the second round against 2021 US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez.

As has now become customary, Swiatek is favourite to win the title but there is stiff competition, none more so than world No 2 and Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka.

However, despite the Belarusian's Grand Slam breakthrough, Swiatek is aware she remains the player to beat and warned there is still much more to come.

"I don't think I peaked [this season] because there are many tournaments that I like [coming up]: Rome, Roland Garros, basically the whole clay season. I wouldn't say that I peaked. I just got my level up compared to Australia, that's all," she said, before adding when asked if she could maintain her dominance from 2022: "I think last season was already pretty dominant, so yeah."

Among the players aiming to halt Swiatek in her tracks, Jelena Ostapenko got her title defence up and running in fine style on Monday, the Latvian 13th seed claiming a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Ukraine's Katarina Zavatska in the first evening match on Centre Court.

Karolina Pliskova was also in a hurry as the Czech former world No 1 – a finalist in Dubai in 2015 – raced past compatriot Marketa Vondrousova 6-3, 6-4. The world No 18 will face Greek sixth seed Maria Sakkari in one of the headline matches of the second round.

There were a couple of shocks on Day Two: last year's finalist Veronika Kudermetova, seeded 10th this week, was defeated 6-3, 5-7, 7-5 by world No 33 Anhelina Kalinina of Ukraine, while Romania's Sorana Cirstea edged past Brazilian 11th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia in a marathon match, the 3hr 29min contest becoming the longest match on the WTA Tour so far this year.

“I wasn’t planning to break the record to be honest. I fought really hard today and have nothing left,” world No 70 Cirstea said. “Beatriz played amazing and sometimes tennis is not fair.

"You play for three and a half hours and the difference is a point. But this is tennis, I’m happy to come out on the winning side and I’m proud of the way I fought. This is what tennis is all about.”