Tennis: Sinner returns in good shape, Swiatek focuses on growth at China Open

Beijing, Sep 24 (IANS) Men's top seed Jannik Sinner and women's top seed Iga Swiatek shared their expectations on Wednesday ahead of the China Open tennis tournament, both expressing hopes to enjoy their time and experience in Beijing.

"It's again great to be back in a tournament. After the US Open, the body's in good shape. Mind also. Had some good time off after the US Open," said Sinner, who lost to world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz in the US Open final a month ago.

The Italian will face world No. 97 Marin Cilic of Croatia in the round of 32 on Thursday. "Of course, the first round is never easy in any tournament. So let's see what I can do tomorrow. But in everything, I'm very happy to be back again. Hopefully to play some good tennis," he added. "We try to prepare ourselves in the best possible way. Obviously, I'm very looking forward to playing again here in China, and we'll see how it goes."

Swiatek, fresh from her WTA 500 Korea Open triumph on Sunday, where she overcame Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia 1-6, 7-6(3), 7-5, reflected on her victory, reports Xinhua.

"Usually, I just feel good, and then I win. But I wasn't feeling the best at the beginning of the final, and then I could really turn it around. I think this is the best thing about this tournament."

Currently ranked No. 2, Swiatek still trails Aryna Sabalenka by over 2,700 points. Sabalenka, however, withdrew from the China Open due to injury. The Polish star emphasised that rankings are not her priority.

"I already know that thinking about the rankings, it's not a way to go, no matter if you're No. 2 or no matter if you're No. 1. It's just kind of numbers. But it doesn't change the fact that you need to kind of feel the tennis and focus on the improvement on the court, then the results are going to come after that," said Swiatek.

"So I'm not focusing on that. For sure, it's a different situation than last year when I wasn't really able to defend my No. 1. I'm just happy that I'm here and I can compete and fight for it. But I got to say, my main focus is more, like tennis-related, how I want to play, how I feel on court," she added.

Swiatek also expressed her wish to explore Beijing, though her schedule may not allow much sightseeing. "I would like to go to the Great Wall, but I don't think I'll make it because the schedule is pretty tight. For now, I'm just going to focus on the tournament, and we'll see how it goes. If I'm going to play well, again, I'm not going to have time to see anything."

The Pole also felt good after changing her racquet colour for the upcoming matches. "I was told to change my racquet to white. But yeah, I'm going to be playing with white. That's Tecnifibre colour. Obviously, I like it. I had many great tournaments with it, so I'm back to white. I like the white racquet. It fits every outfit."

--IANS

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