Iga Swiatek ‘much harder’ to play against than Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova, says former world No 1

Karolina Pliskova says Iga Swiatek is a much tougher opponent to face than Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova as the Pole “gives you nothing” as the Czech also opened up about the fear factor that used to exist in the locker room.

Pliskova competed when Williams and Sharapova were at their peaks and she even topped the rankings in 2015 when the pair dominated the sport. Nine years later, the 32-year-old remains active on the WTA Tour and has also come up against current world No 1 Swiatek.

Karolina Pliskova says Iga Swiatek is a much tougher opponent to face than Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova as the Pole “gives you nothing” as the Czech also opened up about the fear factor that used to exist in the locker room.

Pliskova competed when Williams and Sharapova were at their peaks and she even topped the rankings in 2015 when the pair dominated the sport. Nine years later, the 32-year-old remains active on the WTA Tour and has also come up against current world No 1 Swiatek.

The Czech had a 2-2 head-to-head record against Williams, was 0-2 against Sharapova and 0-2 against Swiatek.

Having faced all three of them, the former world No 1 is in an excellent position to explain why Swiatek is such a difficult rival.

“To play against Iga Swiatek is much harder because she doesn’t give you anything. With Serena, in the end her game was much more aggressive or like Sharapova who I played. But they would at least give you light points or make some mistakes,” she said on the No Challenges podcast.