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Pam Shriver recently expressed her views on how Iga Swiatek recently bounced back from tough losses, which she found reminiscent of Serena Williams' "Revenge tour" at various points of her career.
Shriver, who reached a career-high ranking of 3 during her career as a singles player, was recently invited to speak on a variety of topics on Tennis Channel's Inside-In podcast.
Right off the bat, the American was asked to give her thoughts on Iga Swiatek's Beijing Open triumph last week. In her response, the former player-turned-analyst drew a comparison between how Pole and Serena Williams.
"You can think about the great players through the years at the top, who lose a spot or two in the rankings... they tend to respond pretty well. You think about how Serena Williams responded to having losses, the 'Revenge tour' that she may have been on at certain points in her career. I think Iga took that, when she faced Coco," she said.
Shriver added that Iga Swiatek must've been "totally motivated" to beat reigning US Open champion Coco Gauff during their last encounter in Beijing, after losing their Cincinnati Open last-four match in August.
"I mean Coco obviously had the wrong side of that set after set after set, was able to come out on top in Cincinnati. And then Iga, you know she would've gone into that next match after the loss totally motivated to figure some things out," she remarked.
Before her loss to Gauff in Cincinnati, Swiatek had won fourteen consecutive sets against the American between May 2021 and June 2023. The Pole still leads the 19-year-old by a huge margin of 8-1 in their head-to-head meetings on the WTA tour.
"A little more freedom to try and figure out some new wrinkles in her game" - Pam Shriver on Iga Swiatek relinquishing World No. 1 spot
During the podcast, the 61-year-old also asserted that Iga Swiatek dropping her World No. 1 position would've likely taken some pressure off of her, thereby allowing her to iron out the kinks in her game.
"And what I see from Iga since she lost the World No. 1 ranking is certainly she described a little more freedom to try and figure out some new wrinkles in her game. Whether it's coming to the net more, or using her second serve with a little more authority. So it's kind of fun to see the best try and get even better," she added.
Even though Swiatek has enjoyed a good season in 2023, her failure to defend her US Open crown in September helped Aryna Sabalenka rise to the top-ranking spot on the WTA tour.
The 22-year-old crashed out in the fourth round to Jelena Ostapenko, which caused her to drop 1,760 WTA ranking points (2000 - 420).
Sabalenka, who lost in the semifinals in New York last year, reached the championship match at the 2023 US Open, thereby gaining 520 points (1600–780).
Consequently, the Belarusian dwarfed the Pole in the WTA rankings and currently stands at 9,480 ranking points.
Swiatek, on her part, has put together a tally of 8,890 ranking points. The four-time Major winner will be eager to regain the No. 1 position soon.
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