Ever since Iga's loss in the Quarterfinals of the U.S. Open there has been a lot of talk on social media regarding improving her tennis starting with changing her team members. Which seems to be the case literally every time she loses early in a Slam.
People really don't seem to get that a good team takes years to put together and trust not to mention have any meaningful results with.
Sure sometimes a new voice or perspective is helpful, but the reality of this sport (any sport really) is that you win more than you lose no matter who is part of your team.
It is impossible to win every tournament no matter how good of an athlete you are, at the end of the day athletes are still human. And they have periods of doubt, mental and physical fatigue.
I think a lot of people, maybe even Iga herself underestimated how big of a part the Olympics played in the exhaustion for her this year.
Representing Poland at the Olympics meant everything to her and the emotions of not winning gold, but coming back to win the bronze must have felt so exhilarating and depleting all at once.
And I think on some level it all contributed to this poor performance in the quarters. It was probably her worst performance all year (and considering she's played over 50 matches) is extraordinary, but sadly under appreciated by many.
She won 5 titles in the first half of the season (all of them WTA 1000) which are equally as difficult if not more so than a Slam, and yet they don't seem to count because only one of them was a Slam. I don't understand the mentality this sport has regarding the 4 big events.
Tour accomplishments should get the same level of recognition and yet the governing bodies put less significance to them throughout the year and only seem to remember them as part of summation at the end of each season. Or they only get a mention if you win more than 1 slam in a given year. And it's so weird to me.
While they're important and get the most attention they alone would not be enough to sustain a player in a season (financially and motivation-wise). It's the tour events that showcase how great someone is at managing themselves throughout the year.
Granted the tour tournaments come with it's on pitfalls which include poor organization in terms of the amount the players are required to play which in the last few years have greatly increased along with the tournaments length.
All of that combined makes it extremely difficult for any player these days to be able to work on their game while constantly on tour.
Unless they choose to take an extended break either voluntarily or due to injury (as was the case for Sabalenka and Pegula this year). Both of whom reached the U.S. Open final.
Sabalenka skipped the Olympics and Wimbledon due to injury and I believe it is the sole reason she won. She had plenty of time to rest and properly prepare.
Iga was asked this question in the post match presser and said she has no plans to do the same. I can see both sides of this argument, and the advantages and disadvantages that come with.
On the one hand it'd allow her to work on things at own pace, but on the other she might be a person for whom an extended break makes it harder to get back into the rhythm and stay motivated (not the mention all the external factors of sponsors, endorsements and being world #1).
Sure she has under performed in Slams as a whole, something her and her team will undoubtedly work hard on to improve. But it is not something that will happen overnight as some people out there seem to think. It's a process that takes time.
As a fan I'm also getting very tired of comments regarding a players ability to dominate on one surface, clay in Iga's case (hard court in Aryna's).
I see nothing wrong with it. Plenty of players have made a whole career out of one particular time of year (Nadal being the prime example).
Of course in Iga's case the argument is that as the world #1 she should be more adapt on all surfaces on tour.
Which is valid.
But there's also the fact that Iga is only 23, even the greatest champions of this sport didn't figure out the different surfaces over night. It took them years, in some cases quite a few.
Some never did.
But I firmly believe that with her skill, patience and hard work Iga will get there as well.
It's premature to write off someone's whole career based off of one season's result (a season which isn't even over yet I might add).
But sadly it seems to be something a lot of people are doing in regards to Iga after this U.S. Open especially and it's quite disparaging for someone of her talent.
My hope for the rest of this season and beyond is that Iga gets some time to properly relax and recharge before getting back to training and whatever else she needs in order to continue to enjoy being a part of this sport.
Because the sport is truly better with her in it.
