Novak Djokovic showed Iga Swiatek something few players get to hear firsthand: how his return of serve has shifted as he has aged.

The two were filmed at the Beijing practice courts on Sunday, days before the China Open main draw begins on September 30. Djokovic was talking Swiatek through his stance and how it had changed over the years.

“As I said, I have a bit more wide like this, I try to have the feet open a little bit, I try to open a little bit more because… but it has evolved,” he was heard telling her.

He described his stance in three phases: bent forward when he was younger, leaning back around five or six years ago, and now what he called a “middle ground stance.” He signalled the lesson was not over.

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“We’ll talk more. My coach is already, I feel, here,” Djokovic added, gesturing to the back of his neck. “A lot of pressure.”

Swiatek’s race against the WTA Finals cut-off

For Swiatek, the timing is not casual. The Pole sits tenth in the Live WTA Race with 3,584 points, 650 behind eighth-placed Linda Noskova and the last qualifying spot for the WTA Finals. She has not missed the season-ending tournament since 2020.

The China Open, a WTA 1000 in Beijing, hands the champion 1,000 ranking points and $1,151,380 in prize money. Swiatek is seeded ninth and has a first-round bye. Her coach Francisco Roig has kept qualification as the target this month.

“It’s definitely still a long way off, but yes, it’s our goal. However, if we don’t achieve it, it won’t be the end of the world,” Roig said.

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The men’s-tour advice line, from Nadal to Djokovic

Djokovic is not the first men’s tennis great Swiatek has drawn advice from this year. She spent time at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca before the clay season, where Rafael Nadal joined two of her practice sessions and had her rally from deeper behind the baseline, a hallmark of his own game. Roig himself spent 17 years on Nadal’s coaching staff before joining Swiatek in 2026.

The Beijing main draw runs through Sunday, October 11.

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