Sara Sorribes Tormo knows what it takes to topple a highly fancied World No. 1 while clad in Spanish colours.
Two-and-a-half years ago, she sprung arguably the upset of the Tokyo Olympics when she stunned top seed and recent Wimbledon champion Ash Barty for the biggest victory of her career.
On Monday, the 27-year-old attempts the uphill task again – this time against current No. 1 Iga Swiatek – when Spain and Poland meet in United Cup group play in Perth.
While she conceded she had fewer chances against the likes of Swiatek in full flight, she was by no means overawed.
“I don't think it's something bad. It's just the truth,” Sorribes Tormo said. “I played Barty two years ago, which for me was the real test before Iga, and I remember when I was warming up with her just looking at her, like, 'Oh, my God, how good are you doing that?'
“At the end of the day, I beat her, so I don't think it's impossible… If you take it a positive way, if you take, like, you respect her and you know she's going to do the good things, that makes you have a better mentality because you're not going to get mad if you're not winning the points, because you know she's doing it better. If you take it that way, for me, it's positive.”
Incidentally, Sorribes Tormo was ranked 48th when she surprised Barty on a hard court in Tokyo, the same as her current world mark. The Spaniard opened her United Cup account with a defeat to World No. 11 Beatriz Haddad Maia before she bounced back alongside Alejandro Davidovich Fokina to deliver her nation a 2-1 triumph over Brazil on Friday.
While she held cautious optimism for the outcome of her clash with Swiatek, she was under no illusion of the task at hand, given she did not take a set in their two meetings last season.
“I'm going to say something that I don't know if I have to say, but she's the best,” she said. “That's what I think. I think she's doing all the things right.
“She is a player that I really look at her of how she does many, many things. So for me it's going to be very challenging, but very nice, as well. I will try to enjoy, I will try to improve, I will try to, as I said, make it long, stay as much as I can on court with her. It's going to be a privilege for me and I'll try to take it that way.”
