Tennis Briefing: Iga Świątek makes up for her father’s Olympic disappointment in Seoul

Welcome back to the Monday Tennis Briefing, where The Athletic will explain the stories behind the stories from the past week on court.

This week, Italy defended their Billie Jean King Cup title, Team World was victorious at the Laver Cup and Iga Świątek righted a family wrong in Seoul.

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Rain wreaks havoc in Seoul before Świątek rights a family wrong

A year after the Shanghai Masters was ravaged by rain and matches had to be moved indoors, a similar situation occurred at the Korea Open in Seoul last week.

There were downpours throughout the week, with doubles matches moved indoors as early as Tuesday. Cue the surreal sight of Grand Slam champions Kateřina Siniaková and Barbora Krejčíková playing in front of fans sat on the floor, in a venue that looked like a school sports hall.

Siniaková and Krejčíková, who has won two singles majors in addition to 10 in doubles, then played their quarterfinal match on Friday indoors as well. The duo were juggling singles commitments too, with their quarterfinals in that competition delayed until the Saturday.

That left the Czech duo with the possibility of playing a quarterfinal and a semifinal in singles and a semifinal in doubles all on the same day. Krejčíková, who is still managing a long-term back problem, was up against Świątek, who didn’t play her first-round match until Thursday because of the weather, while Siniaková faced Suzan Lamens of the Netherlands.

Świątek baked one of her signature bagels (6-0) in the opener and took the second set 6-3 in a straightforward win, clearing Krejčíková’s schedule clash. But Siniaková defeated Lamens in straight sets, so she had to face Russia’s Ekaterina Alexandrova before taking to the doubles court with Krejčíková. Siniaková lost to Alexandrova, also in straight sets, but she and Krejčíková rebounded to beat Yang Zhaoxuan and Xu Yifan in the doubles semifinals.

Siniaková and Krejčíková ended an exhausting week on Sunday by winning the doubles title, defeating America’s Caty McNally and Maya Joint of Australia 6-3, 7-6 (6).

Świątek, meanwhile, won her third title of the year more dramatically than we’ve become accustomed to. She was the one on the receiving end of a first-set breadstick (a 1-6) set in the final against Alexandrova, but ended up winning a tight final 1-6, 7-6 (3), 7-5, despite her opponent winning 11 more points across the match.

The win was especially pertinent for Świątek because her father, Tomasz, had failed to win a medal with the Polish rowing team at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

Speaking on court after the win, Świątek said: “I’m happy that I could win here because of the family history. My dad couldn’t win the Olympics, but at least I won this tournament, so hopefully he’s going to come here next year to enjoy everything.”

Świątek’s win closes the gap on Aryna Sabalenka in the race to be the year-end world No. 1. Taking in points won this year, her 500-point tally from Seoul means Świątek trails by 1,577 points and has the opportunity to close that to 577 as Sabalenka is not entered for the China Open, a WTA 1,000 event, starting this week.

Is cartoon tennis becoming a feature of tournaments?

One of the quirkiest stories from this year’s Australian Open was the huge success of AO Animated. It broadcast live matches, but with graphics looking like they were from a Nintendo Wii game. This was a clever way of the tournament circumventing free-to-air broadcast restrictions through YouTube, while also appealing to younger viewers who enjoyed the aesthetic. It garnered lots of attention too, with viral moments brought about by the jerky graphics, including players back-flipping in the middle of a point, or dissolving into the court.

It looked like a glimpse into tennis’ future, with a focus on community-based content (the YouTube chat that ran alongside the footage was a big hit) that takes away some of the obstacles inherent to the sport’s fragmented media landscape. Eight months on, that appears to be the direction of travel.

At this year’s U.S. Open, organizers delivered something similar inside the tournament’s app, with more realistic but less engaging graphics compared to its bobble-headed Australian counterpart.

Then, at last weekend’s Laver Cup, Tennis Australia, one of the organisations that puts on the event, brought the technology to San Francisco. It was even part of Tennis Channel’s coverage of the event, available to watch on the Tennis Channel app. A representative wrote via email to The Athletic that “Laver Cup Animated offers a chance to engage younger and more digitally native audiences in new ways.”

Machar Reid, Tennis Australia’s director of innovation, said in an interview at Melbourne Park in January that: “There’s something in it, around building a community to allow people to chat about what’s happened and connect with the sport differently.”

Will the French Open and Wimbledon follow suit next year?

Team events show their value again

The Asian swing got underway last week, but it was team events that took centre stage for much of last week.

On the men’s side, we had one of the most exciting Laver Cups in the event’s history, with Team World securing a win after losing five of the first seven editions.

While on the women’s side, the first Billie Jean King Cup finals tournament to be held in Shenzen, China, was largely successful, with Italy successfully defending their title after dramatic escapes in the quarterfinal and semifinals.

In both, they fought back from numerous extremely precarious situations, including being a point and a game away from defeat in the semis, when, having lost the opening rubber, Jasmine Paolini trailed Elina Svitolina by a set and 4-2 and was down game point. The fightback was thrilling, with Paolini, currently ranked No. 8, offering another reminder of why she can never be written off.

Italy were ultimately much too strong for the United States in the final, winning both singles rubbers in straight sets, with the tie therefore not requiring a final doubles match. For the U.S., the wait for a first title since 2017 continues.

This new September slot for the Billie Jean King Cup finals (moved from November, where it shared the stage with the Davis Cup) worked well, and being in China should make logistical sense as the Asian swing kicks up a notch over the next few weeks.

Before it does, there are a couple of ATP tournaments continuing over from last week and don’t finish until Tuesday. At the Chengdu Open, Brandon Nakashima beat Alejandro Tabilo in straight sets before Lorenzo Musetti faced Alexander Shevchenko in Monday’s other semifinal. At the Hangzhou Open, the winner of Alexander Bublik vs Wu Yibing will reach the final and face Valentin Royer, who beat French compatriot Corentin Moutet.

Shot of the week

Silver-haired Carlos Alcaraz’s feather-soft backhand drop-volley as he and Casper Ruud teamed up in the Laver Cup. How could it not be?

The Spaniard received a standing ovation from his teammates after the shot bounced so close to the net that it left his opponents, American duo Reilly Opelka and Alex Michelsen, with no chance. Europe went on to win Sunday’s match 7-6 (7-4), 6-1, with Alcaraz’s moment the icing on the cake.

🏆 The winners of the week

🎾 ATP:

🏆 Team World def. Team Europe 15-9 to win the Laver Cup in San Francisco.

🎾 WTA:

🏆 Italy def. the U.S. 2-0 to win the Billie Jean King Cup in Shenzhen, China.

🏆 Świątek (1) def. Alexandrova (2) 1-6, 7-6 (3), 7-5 to win the Korea Open (500) in Seoul. It is the Pole’s third title of the year.

📈📉 On the rise

📈 Ella Seidel enters the top 100 for the first time after moving up 13 places from No. 105 to No. 92.

📈 Katerina Siniakova ascends 17 spots to No. 60 after reaching the semifinals in Seoul.

📈 Loïs Boisson reaches a career high of No. 39 after rising from No. 49.

📅 Coming up

🎾 ATP

📍Beijing: China Open (500) featuring Jannik Sinner, Alexander Zverev, Alex de Minaur, Daniil Medvedev.

📍Tokyo: Japan Open (500) featuring Alcaraz, Taylor Fritz, Holger Rune and Denis Shapovalov.

📺 UK: Sky Sports; U.S.: Tennis Channel 💻 Tennis TV

🎾 WTA

📍Beijing: China Open (1,000) featuring Iga Świątek, Zheng Qinwen, Amanda Anisimova, Naomi Osaka.

📺 UK: Sky Sports; U.S.: Tennis Channel

Tell us what you noticed this week in the comments below as the men’s and women’s tours continue.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

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Tennis Briefing: Iga Świątek makes up for her father’s Olympic disappointment in Seoul

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