Tennis star Iga ÅšwiÄ…tek has revealed how she won the Qatar Open and subsequently rose up to world number four. ÅšwiÄ…tek earned the fourth title of her career in Doha, defeating Anett Kontaveit 6-2, 6-0 in the final of the WTA 1000 event. She now has a Grand Slam and two WTA 1000 titles to her name, and has risen back to a career high of world number four today.The 20-year-old won the French Open in 2020, and was subsequently thought of as a clay-court specialist. But she has shown this year that she can excel on hard court as well. ÅšwiÄ…tek progressed to the semi-finals of the Adelaide International in January, before reaching the same stage at the Australian Open. She then defeated three top 10 players at a single event for the first time in her career at the Qatar Open. Speaking to WTA Insider, ÅšwiÄ…tek revealed the secret behind her current form and rise up the world rankings.Much of the credit has gone to Tomasz Witkorowski, who joined ÅšwiÄ…tek’s coaching team at the start of the year. 

"[Tomasz] convinced me to change my approach towards my tennis," Swiatek said. "I am being more aggressive right now and I love that. 

“At first I wasn't really convinced, so yeah, big thanks to him for showing me this different perspective.

"Practicing in Warsaw is a totally different story than going on Tour, so I'm pretty happy the last few weeks have shown that we have a good relationship, and we have also a good mood in our team. We have fun. 

“And it was always important for me to other members of the team to have a good relationship between each other, so I can have full support but also feel comfortable around them. They are giving me a lot."

Świątek explained how improving her attacking play had given her more variety in her game, and allowed her to overcome big hitters such as Aryna Sabalenka. 

“I always felt that I'm really good at defence and I want to be as good and feel really comfortable as well when I'm going forward,” she said.

“So it's pretty easy, but at the end it's up to the details, you know? Even though obviously I could attack, because I had a good ranking since a few years ago, it still didn't mean that I can beat those heavy hitters and play top five or top 10 tennis. 

“Right now I feel I can do that because I just have more options and I can choose between them when I'm playing against some players. 

“Obviously I'm not going to use each of them in every match but I just have in the back of my mind that even when I'm a break down or something, I still have skills to solve my problems and to play better.”

Świątek claimed she would “chill out” for a few days after her victory, but she will soon be preparing for Indian Wells, which is scheduled to begin on March 7th.