Five Things To Know after the 2022 WTA Finals Media Day

WATCH: Swiatek is playing her first tournament since winning her eighth title of the season in San Diego.

FORT WORTH, Texas—The party is over and the rodeo is about to begin: the WTA Finals kicked off its annual Media Day with insight from all eight contenders in search of the Billie Jean King Trophy.

Some of the biggest takeaways from Dickies Arena:

1) Iga Swiatek is taking it easy.

Can you blame her? The world No. 1 has been the busiest woman on tour in 2022, compiling a 37-match winning streak in between capturing two more Grand Slam titles.

Swiatek is 14-1 since she took Flushing Meadows by storm to win the US Open, finishing runner-up in Ostrava and winning her eighth title of the year in San Diego, but opted out of the WTA 1000 in Guadalajara to set her sights firmly on Fort Worth.

“The preparation went well,” said the top seed, who made her WTA Finals debut in 2021. “I mean, we did everything we planned. I was able to recover. I felt really sore after these two tournaments. I feel more fresh right now, and that's all that matters because I'm able to give my all during matches.

“At this part of the season I'm not practicing too much, so I'm happy about that! I have more free time, and I'm enjoying that, yeah.”

How is Swiatek spending that free time?

“It's great to find a good movie that is going to keep you chilled.”

Look for Iga to be ice cold in the face of elite opposition.

2) Ons Jabeur is here to stay.

Much was made over the turnover in the WTA Finals field: four debutantes qualified for Fort Worth, down from the six new faces who played their first Finals in Guadalajara.

For No. 2 seed Ons Jabeur, this is less a revolt and more a revolution, a natural correction after the 18-month ranking freeze that occurred in the wake of the global pandemic.

“Times change,” said the talented Tunisian, who reached back-to-back Grand Slam finals at Wimbledon and the US Open. “I feel like even the first time the players that have played the first time here, they were pretty consistent the last few years. You can take Jess [Pegula], Coco [Gauff], me. We always try to qualify. We were maybe 13, 12 in the Race before.

“I feel like nobody saw the changes coming because of the COVID and the ranking, so I feel like the change happened, like, way before. But since the rankings stopped for a while, people didn't see it.”

Jabeur has been hard to miss in 2022, and after narrowly missing out on a WTA Finals berth last fall, the 28-year-old is aiming to end her breakthrough season on the highest possible note.

3) Caroline Garcia has a new coach.

The Frenchwoman is back at the WTA Finals for the first time since 2017, when she blitzed the fields in Wuhan and Beijing to nab a last-minute spot in Singapore, but Garcia doesn’t lack for surprises in 2022 as she arrives in Fort Worth without coach Bertrand Perret.

“I just would like to thank Bertrand and all the hard work we did this year,” Garcia said, confirming reports the two had split after Guadalajara. “It was a great investment personally and professionally. We started far away and we came to the top of it at the end of the season.

“Now I have to be focused on the present, on the action, my best preparation I can have to play this tournament. It's a big one. So, I have to keep my mind clear and just be focused on the moment.”

Garcia is flanked by Juan Pablo Guzman, who worked with her in part of what has been a renaissance year thanks to a title run at the Western & Southern Open and a first Grand Slam semifinal at the US Open.

“He came to help me with organization, to give me a few tips, to help me with preparation for the match because I needed someone. And as he knows me, it's easier to get in the team.”

Can Garcia maintain the magic for one more week?

4) Maria Sakkari has a special guest.

It all came together for Maria Sakkari in the last week of the regular season, clinching the final WTA Finals berth in a winner-take-all clash with Veronika Kudermetova.

Despite an at-times tumultuous year, the former world No. 3 had at least one unwavering fan: her grandmother.

“I promised her this last summer that if I was going to make it when I was going through all these tough moments, that she said, ‘I'm going to come no matter where it is, even if it's in Australia or the U.S.’

“Then I kept my promise. When I qualified, I think she was pretty happy that she was going to come. I think she's also happy. She watches so much tennis. It's crazy. She wakes up in the middle of the night, not just to watch me, but to watch every single tennis match.

“It's very nice. I think that gives me a lot of strength and a lot of motivation to do well here.”

Might the family affair carry Sakkari to the biggest title of her career?

5) Aryna Sabalenka DGAF.

Maybe you already knew that, but in case you forgot:

Q. I was wondering even not necessarily in your professional career, but what's the best piece of advice you've ever been given?

ARYNA SABALENKA: Oh, my God, the best advice? Just don't listen anybody. Follow your, like—I don't know how to say - journey and just don't give a fuck about what people are saying. Sorry, there's no way to say it different. This is just the only one way. You can do, like, bleep (laughing).