The rivals caught up with Iga Świątek. And in her kingdom. We have hard evidence
Tennis, although at first glance it sticks to tradition, is actually evolving at a lightning speed. The era of the Williams sisters started changes on a physical level. Today's top players are mostly athletes, basing their game on strength and dynamics. In the last century, rallies were much slower, but more technical, with more rotations.
How quickly this is changing is perfectly visible in the case of Iga Świątek and other top tennis players. When Świątek won her first Roland Garros title in 2020, her style of play was a breath of fresh air. Her extraordinary movement around the court, rotations that were a nightmare for her opponents, and the fact that the Pole could both defend brilliantly and attack very strongly, were something that was impossible for her opponents to overcome. Especially on the clay surface, the Pole's results were something spectacular.
The table below shows, among other things, what a huge advantage Iga has had on the clay surface since 2022. Not counting Mirra Andreeva, who did it three years ago in much lower-ranking tournaments, only Sabalenka has exceeded the barrier of 80 percent wins on clay. Świątek has achieved over 90 percent for three years in a row. Cosmic results.
| Tennis player/Balance on clay court | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
| Aryna Sabalenka | 9-5 (64%) | 14-3 (82.4%) | 15-4 (78.9%) | 8-1 (88.9%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iga Swiatek | 18-1 (95%) | 19-2 (90.5%) | 26-2 (92.9%) | 5-2 (71.4%) |
| Coco Gauff | 10-4 (71%) | 7-4 (63.6%) | 14-5 (73.7%) | 6-2 (75%) |
| Jessica Pegula | 11-4 (73%) | 8-4 (66.7%) | 4-2 (66.7%) | 7-2 (77.8%) |
| Jasmine Paolini | 10-10 (50%) | 6-5 (54.5%) | 12-5 (70.6%) | 4-2 (66.7%) |
| Madison Keys | 4-4 (50%) | 5-3 (62.5%) | 13-4 (76.5%) | 4-2 (66.7%) |
| Myrrh Andreyeva | 18-4 (82%) Lower Ranking Tournaments | 6-3 (66.7%) | 16-5 (76.2%) | 4-2 (66.7%) |
| Qinwen Zheng | 10-4 (71%) | 11-4 (73.3%) | 17-4 (81%) | 2-2 (50%) |
| Emma Navarro | 23-10 (70%) Lower Rank Tournaments | 6-5 (54.5%) | 8-6 (57.1%) | 4-3 (57.1%) |
| Paul Bados | 8-5 (62%) | 11-4 (73.3%) | 6-5 (54.5%) | - |
In the meantime, the rivals have started to learn their lesson. Players such as Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff have significantly improved not only the consistency of their game and the way they work the Pole over the past two or three years, but have also developed in other aspects — as can be seen in the table below, which shows the dominance index (the percentage of points won on returns divided by the points lost on one's own serve).
| Tennis Player/Dominance Index | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
| Aryna Sabalenka | 1.05 | 1.23 | 1.22 | 1.25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iga Swiatek | 1.31 | 1.41 | 1.33 | 1.23 |
| Coco Gauff | 1.08 | 1.14 | 1.22 | 1.19 |
| Jessica Pegula | 1.11 | 1.18 | 1.12 | 1.19 |
| Jasmine Paolini | 0.98 | 1.02 | 1.10 | 1.02 |
| Madison Keys | 1.11 | 1.15 | 1.11 | 1.14 |
| Myrrh Andreyeva | 0.88 | 1.13 | 1.14 | 1.17 |
| Qinwen Zheng | 1.08 | 1.09 | 1.17 | 1.06 |
| Emma Navarro | 0.98 | 1.08 | 1.11 | 1.09 |
| Paul Bados | 1.06 | 1.13 | 1.11 | 1.13 |
As you can see, in this aspect, Świątek had no equals for three years. Despite a serve that did not wreak as much havoc as Sabalenka's, the Pole made up for everything in the exchanges. From the above table, it can be seen that most of Świątek's rivals are gradually improving their tennis. Apart from players who have fallen into a hole, such as Jasmine Paolini, Qinwen Zheng or Jelena Rybakina, who dropped out of the top ten of the WTA rankings, most of the other players are increasing their indicator.
The clear leader in the pursuit of Świątek is the current leader of the WTA rankings. The Belarusian does not hide the fact that the Pole affected her in the same way that Djokovic, Federer and Nadal affected each other. Sabalenka was so determined to catch up with Świątek that she finally realized this dream. This is clearly visible when we break down the most important aspects.
| Tennis player and year/Parameter | Tie-break balance | Aces | Accuracy of 1st service | Winning actions after 1st serve | Winning plays after 2nd serve | Won shares after the return |
| Aryna Sabalenka: | - | - | - | - | - | - |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 9-5 (64%) | 6.2% | 60.1% | 67.8% | 42% | 44.7% |
| 2023 | 13-6 (68%) | 8.8% | 61% | 72.8% | 49.4% | 44.7% |
| 2024 | 9-5 (64%) | 6.6% | 62.8% | 70.4% | 50.5% | 45.3% |
| 2025 | 5-1 (83%) | 4.6% | 64% | 66.8% | 50.7% | 48.7% |
| Iga Świątek: | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2022 | 6-5 (55%) | 3.2% | 65.7% | 66.5% | 52% | 50.2% |
| 2023 | 11-5 (69%) | 2.8% | 65.5% | 70% | 54.5% | 49.9% |
| 2024 | 8-4 (67%) | 3.2% | 66.3% | 69.3% | 53.6% | 47.9% |
| 2025 | 2-4 (33%) | 4% | 62.9% | 66.8% | 49.2% | 48.8% |
Sabalenka has changed her serving style and currently doesn't have as many aces as she did two years ago. On the other hand, thanks to this change, her first serve hits the service diamond much more often. The real gap in Sabalenka's improvement is visible primarily in her second serve wins and her return play.
Iga Świątek's every element is weaker this season than in previous years. The exception are aces, which may result from greater difficulties in matches and greater risk-taking. This would also be evidenced by the decrease in accuracy of the first serve.
Statistics source: Tennis Abstract
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