Iga Swiatek announces mini-break ahead of the US Open

It would have been a surprise if Iga Swiatek opted to play Tennis in the Land in the week ahead of the US Open.

However, Swiatek has still announced that she would be taking the week off, feeling that she has emptied her tank in successive runs to the last four of WTA 1000 events.

Swiatek is delighted to get some time to put her feet up as she expects a tough title defence in New York.

“I would say my tank of fuel is pretty empty. Honestly, I’m not even going to kind of regret a lot because I’m happy that I’m going to have days off now,” said Swiatek.

Swiatek didn’t feel that she did too much wrong in her loss to Gauff in the last four in Cincinnati.

“Coco played great tennis,” Swiatek said.

“I think her first serve was better than most of the matches we played against each other, it was faster.

“She played more in (the court), even though she’s risking with that speed.

“I thought technically I did everything right. I was kind of surprised that I missed a couple of shots. But it happens. She really played a good match, so… It wasn’t easy.”

Swiatek revealed that her US Open title defence wasn’t really something she was thinking about while in Montreal and Cincinnati.

She feels that she didn’t need to add extra mental pressure to her plate while trying to win big tournaments.

“I haven’t really been thinking about that,” Swiatek replied when asked about the upcoming defence of her US Open title.

“I was just focused on this tournament. I know from my experience that being a defending champion is not easy.’

“I’m going to kind of take it easy on myself and just try to do everything step by step.’

“Last year’s tournament was also really tough. I could have been out in the fourth round. So I’ll just fight and I’ll see how it’s going to go.”

The US Open draw takes place on Thursday in the coming week, with Swiatek set to learn who will be her first round opponent.

Swiatek will head the draw as the top seed with Aryna Sabalenka missing a chance to snatch the world No 1 ranking in Cincinnati.

By extending her maiden reign as world No 1 another week, Swiatek will draw level with Martina Hingis to hold the 11th longest continuous reign as world No 1 in the history of the WTA Rankings.

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