Maddison Inglis reveals as soon as she started warming up with Iga Swiatek she realized that the Pole's spin was different to anything she has encountered before on the WTA Tour.
For Inglis, this year's Australian Open saw her enjoy her best-ever Grand Slam run after she won three qualifying matches – defeated Kimberley Birrell and Laura Siegemund – before receiving a third-round walkover from Naomi Osaka.
When preparing for her maiden Grand Slam round-of-16 match, Inglis put emphasis on figuring out how to deal with Swiatek's spin. And when doing so, the Australian figured out that practicing with a male player – specifically Jason Kubler – could help.
Inglis thought she would be ready for Swiatek's spin, but that changed once she started warming up with the No. 2 seed. In the end, the qualifier didn't stand much of a chance, losing 0-6 3-6.
Inglis: Swiatek plays a little different to the other women
“I did say to Jason [Kubler] after he maybe should have spun it a bit more in the warmup. Because, yeah, I was hitting with him the last couple of days to kind of get used to that, but the first couple of balls in the warmup, I was hitting them up here. I was, like, 'Whoa.' You know, that wasn’t what we had practiced," Inglis explained after the loss.
"But, yeah, it’s just different. She plays a little different to the other women. Yeah, I thought I handled it all right out there. It’s just that, you know, there’s a few little things I’ve got to adapt to better, I think. Yeah, I want to play more matches against those players, so hopefully this year I can.”
Growing up, Swiatek used to idolize and look up to Rafael Nadal, whose spin was one of the biggest and most important parts of his game.
With that being said, it shouldn't be a big surprise that Swiatek now has one of the best spins in the women's game.
