2013 Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli agrees with Maria Sharapova’s claim and she believes that Serena Williams’s peak will always be better than Iga Swiatek’s peak. Sharapova, a former five-time Grand Slam champion, recently revealed she encouraged Williams to make one final return to tennis.
“I said, ‘No disrespect to this generation but you are so much better and you need to go out there,” Sharapova said. In her final tournament – at the US Open – 40-year-old Williams defeated Danka Kovinic and second- seeded Anett Kontaveit before falling short versus Ajla Tomljanovic.
“For Serena at 40 years old to expect her to play at the same level as she was in her 20s, that’s not something we can realistically expect from her,” Bartoli said on the latet episode of Tennis Majors’ “Match Point.”
“When you put all of that in perspective, the best of Serena Williams will be better than the best of Iga Swiatek”.
Swiatek learning from Williams
With Williams retired, Swiatek is officially the new face of the women’s game.
When Williams was at her best, there was an intimidation factor surrounding her game as she was that dominant on a tennis court. Now, Swiatek is trying to learn that from Williams and learn how to strike fear in her opponents’ eyes.
“I feel it. I feel like it’s not every time that I can make use of it. This is the thing that Serena really showed how to do. Because she was at the top for a long time and she was using that pressure and intimidation of being at the top of the game.
She used it pretty well to make her matches a little bit easier, especially at the beginning. I feel like I was able to do that a couple of times, but I want to do it more often. So for sure I’m aware of that and I want to try and use it in the right way,” Swiatek said.