Iga Swiatek is set to kickstart her Asian swing with a debut appearance at the Korea Open this week \u2014 though is the Pole fit ahead of her return to action?<\/p>\n
World No 2 and six-time Grand Slam singles champion Swiatek<\/a> has not been in action since the US Open earlier this month, where her campaign was ended by Amanda Anisimova at the quarter-final stage<\/a>.<\/p>\n In the days after the match, the 24-year-old \u2014 who triumphed at Wimbledon earlier this year \u2014 revealed on social media that she had been \u201cmanaging\u201d a foot issue and had been \u201cpushing through a lot\u201d across her campaign, thanking US Open physios and medical staff for their support.<\/p>\n Swiatek\u2019s comments on social media led some to believe that the Pole would hold a managed schedule across the Asian swing, with the Korea Open in Seoul an event that she could consider withdrawing from.<\/p>\n However, the world No 2 has been in Seoul for a handful of days and is the top seed at the WTA 500, with Swiatek still the favourite for the title despite a tricky draw early on in the Korean capital<\/a>.<\/p>\n And, in encouraging news for the tournament and her fans, the 24-year-old has revealed she is not playing with \u201cany pain\u201d, even if she is short of time on the court.<\/p>\n She said: \u201cI haven\u2019t been practising a lot because I needed time to recover and to do everything to just be ready to play matches.<\/p>\n \u201cSo physically, I feel great. I feel like I need to practice some more, but I don\u2019t have any pain or anything. It\u2019s all good.\u201d<\/p>\n Tennis News<\/p>\n WTA Rankings: Swiatek has chance to close gap, Jovic +37, Eala +4, Tjen +27, Rajaonah +83<\/a><\/p>\n Teenager Iva Jovic\u2019s points and prize money after winning maiden WTA trophy at Guadalajara<\/a><\/p>\n After winning Wimbledon, the Pole did not take too much time away from the court, reaching the fourth round of the Canadian Open just weeks later.<\/p>\n That was followed by her run to the Cincinnati Open title and then her US Open mixed doubles campaign straight afterwards, with her and partner Casper Ruud reaching the final of the revamped event.<\/p>\n A rumour did emerge that the mixed doubles was the cause of Swiatek\u2019s foot issue, with the Pole not convincing across most of her women\u2019s singles campaign.<\/p>\n However, in an interview with sport.pl<\/a>, Swiatek\u2019s coach Wim Fissette debunked such talk.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not one to judge whether the mixed doubles made things worse,\u201d said Fiessette.<\/p>\n \u201cI talked to Maciej [Ryszczuk, Swiatek\u2019s physiotherapist] about it. I asked him if it was something we shouldn\u2019t have done, looking back. He didn\u2019t think it made much difference.<\/p>\n \u201cThe root of the problem turned out to be the tournament in Cincinnati, where it was really hot, which in Iga\u2019s case, with her sliding and intense movement, is even more important. I think it was just bad luck.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course, we\u2019re trying to learn from it and see how we can do things better. Maybe we should tap more often when it\u2019s really hot, when there\u2019s a higher risk of blisters, maybe we should change our socks or shoes more often.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve talked about how to avoid this in the future and hopefully it won\u2019t happen again.<\/p>\n \u201cPlaying with a numb foot means you approach matches with much more thought than a normal match, which was a big challenge. I\u2019m proud of Iga for how she handled it, and I think we can be happy with this [US Open] quarter-final.\u201d<\/p>\n Swiatek has the advantage of extra time to rest ahead of the start of the campaign, with all of the top four seeds receiving an opening-round bye in the main draw.<\/p>\n However, she does not have the easiest pathway through, with Zhu Lin or Sorana Cirstea set to be her opening opponent.<\/p>\n That could then be followed by a quarter-final against eighth seed Emma Raducanu<\/a>, and potentially a semi-final versus third seed Clara Tauson \u2014 who beat her in Montreal this year.<\/p>\n