Swiatek opens up about playing against Barty

World number one Iga Swiatek has said that she would have welcomed a great rivalry with Ashleigh Barty, admitting that the former number one pushed her to elevate her game.

Swiatek reached the semi-finals of the Adelaide International of the 2022 season before losing to Barty 6-4, 6-2. Swiatek was also defeated by Barty in Madrid in 2021, this time 7-5 6-4.

Barty competed in the finals of both the Australian Open and the Adelaide International before shockingly announcing her retirement in March.

Swiatek took Barty's place after her retirement and has since made a name for herself as the most powerful player in the women's game.

"I think we all need somebody who is going to push ourselves to the limit. It gave me a lot of motivation last season when I played against Ash (Barty) in Adelaide," Swiatek told The National.

"For the next couple of months, before she retired, my main goal was to learn how to play against her a little bit and maybe be able to beat her. For sure rivalry is welcome, I can totally take a lot from that. So I think it's great that we have so many people we can compete against," she added.

It should be mentioned here that, with 11,085 ranking points, Swiatek is by far the player with the highest overall ranking in the globe, while Ons Jabeur is in second place with 5,055.

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