Iga Swiatek vs the field: Should world No. 1 be the US Open favourite ahead of Simona Halep, Caroline Garcia?

It wasn’t that long ago that it would be unthinkable to tag anyone but Iga Swiatek as favourite for a tournament. Her 37-match winning streak – the longest on the WTA Tour this century which ended at Wimbledon – featured several moments when it was hard to imagine how she would lose again. It wasn’t just that Swiatek kept on winning, it was that she was winning in such a swashbuckling and confident style.

With former world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty retired, it looked like Swiatek was setting herself up as the dominant force on the WTA Tour for years to come. Ad But four losses later, Swiatek’s position doesn’t look so secure – and the field appears to be closing in ahead of the US Open.

WTA CincinnatiHalep suffers US Open injury scare after pulling out of Cincinatti with thigh injury17/08/2022 AT 22:00 Whether Swiatek remains the favourite depends on how you assess her last six weeks. She had the surprisingly one-sided loss to Alize Cornet at Wimbledon – having had no competitive action on grass ahead of the Grand Slam – and then lost to Caroline Garcia on clay at the Poland Open. In Toronto and Cincinatti she seemed to have rediscovered some form with wins in her opening matches before being bounced out by an in-form Beatriz Haddad Maia and upwardly-trending Madison Keys.

A few numbers stand out from the hard-court defeats: 33 winners vs 28 unforced errors in windy conditions against Haddad Maia, who made just 12 unforced errors; just six winners against 14 unforced errors vs Keys; and, most notably, giving up a combined 33 break-point chances in the two matches. Even the victory over Sloane Stephens in Cincinnati was not entirely clean from Swiatek, who finished with 17 winners to 25 unforced errors. Swiatek's ball