Iga Swiatek keeps 2022 vibes going in World Tennis League debut against Caroline Garcia

WATCH: Swiatek served out her first victory in six weeks over the reigning WTA Finals champion in Dubai.

As much as it serves as a season’s thrilling conclusion, the WTA Finals can just as easily be positioned as a prologue for the season to come, and few looked readier to take 2023 by storm than champion Caroline Garcia.

The French star all but blitzed the Fort Worth field to capture the biggest title of her career, outserving a resurgent Aryna Sabalenka in the final and putting herself back in the Grand Slam conversation come January’s Australian swing.

Though she handed Garcia her lone defeat of the week, Iga Swiatek didn’t end 2022 in the driver’s seat, where she’d been for the bulk of the year: the world No. 1 arrived for her second WTA Finals in pole position to end her dominant season firmly in front, only for Sabalenka to hit her off the court in the semifinals.

How would Swiatek handle the thudding defeat? Could she reenergize in time to defend all that she had accomplished in what could be the most consequential season of her career? Or would Garcia continue her late momentum into 2023?

Taking the court for the World Tennis League, Swiatek showed she was still very the 2022 WTA Player of the Year as she scored another win over Garcia, 6-3, 6-4, to keep the Kites in contention against the Eagles.

There’s always something to improve. I’m 21, so I think I can actually do many things, but on volleys, especially, we’ve been working on my volley game. Iga Swiatek

“Truth be told, I wasn’t counting games,” the Pole joked of the league’s unique scoring format. “I’m pretty confident I can focus on other things in matches, change something up with my tactics, or just implement what I’ve been working on in the off-season. The score isn’t the most important thing here.

“Mostly it’s fun and learning, so I’m pretty happy that I played such a solid game.”

The lighter atmosphere in Dubai kicked off with a mixed affair between Swiatek’s teammates Eugenie Bouchard and Holger Rune against Bianca Andreescu and Nick Kyrgios of the Eagles. With Andreescu and Kyrgios defeating Bouchard and Rune in straight sets, the proverbial pressure was on for Swiatek, who kept the crowd engaged with her inimitable shotmaking.

Garcia kept things close, especially in the second, but ultimately found herself outmatched in the game’s deciding points and Swiatek served out her first victory in six weeks.

“There’s always something to improve. I’m 21, so I think I can actually do many things, but on volleys, especially, we’ve been working on my volley game.

“Rohan [Bopanna] taught me some volleys before the tournament,” she added, shouting out her Kites teammate, “So it’s his fault that I missed one of them on game point!”

Swiatek has already proven all but unbeatable from the back of the court; should she adapt a more all-court style next season, her rivals will have an even bigger challenge as the world No. 1 threatens to close more often at net.

Her next match will come on 22 December, when she’s set to face former world No. 2 Anett Kontaveit in a face-off against the Hawks.

The Top 2 teams will meet in a Christmas Eve final at the Coca-Cola Arena, a 10-minute drive from the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships where Swiatek endured her last loss before kicking off a 37-match winning streak last spring.

Though events like the World Tennis League suggest an even shorter off-season, players like Swiatek are taking full advantage to keep this year’s vibes going strong into next.

“Hopefully I can use the experience of such amazing players to learn a lot.”