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Iga Swiatek was "pretty proud" of her execution at the net against Sara Sorribes Tormo as the Pole is happy to see that her efforts to improve in that area of the game are paying off. Swiatek, seeded at No 2, saw off Sorribes Tormo 6-4 6-3 in the Beijing first round.
In the first set, Swiatek went 15-of-17 at the net. "For sure, today I felt really confident and comfortable because I've been practicing that a lot. I'm pretty proud of my performance at the net because, technically, I feel like my volley has changed.
I'm really happy with that. I think against some players it's kind of necessary to go to the net, and today that was that kind of a match," Swiatek said after the match.
Swiatek thrilled with how her Beijing campaign started
This week in Beijing, Swiatek is playing her first tournament since a disappointing US Open round-of-16 loss.
Also this week, Swiatek is not playing as the world No 1 for the first time since 2022 April. At the start of the tournament, Swiatek claimed she was focused on improving her game rather than reclaiming the top spot from Aryna Sabalenka. "I think it's a bit easier to come back to the mindset of chasing somebody because that's what we've been doing our whole lives.
There's only one person who's at number one. I think this was harder to get used to last season. But honestly, it doesn't really matter for me because after the US Open, I knew I was going to drop to second position. I stopped thinking about rankings because I felt like there's some baggage off my shoulders.
I could focus more on just working and getting back to the more peaceful and normal rhythm of practicing," Swiatek said in her pre-tournament press conference. It remains to be seen how far can Swiatek go in her Beijing debut.