Iga Swiatek leaves fans confused in training for the Canadian Open as the World No 1 is seen preparing in Montreal with TAPE over her mouth

Athletes always find different ways to train to give themselves the edge on their competition.

World No 1 Iga Swiatek though has taken that one step further with a bizarre new method which has caught the curiosity of fans.

The 22-year-old Polish star was seen preparing for the Canadian Open with tape covering her mouth.

Pictures released from her training sessions show her swinging her racket with the tape over her mouth, as well as taking it off after the end of the session.

Swiatek’s decision to use tape left fans on social media questioning what benefits it brings to her training session.  

Swiatek is preparing for the Canadian Open where she received a first-round bye

Twitter users were left confused by Swiatek’s new training methods for the tournament in Montreal

One fan simply wrote ‘what?’ while another said they were ‘very intrigued/confused by this.’

Kamakshi Tandon commented: ‘A lot of coaches are going to be very interested in this new training method.’

Meanwhile another fan joked: ‘How I need to train for every meeting with my extended family.’

However, another Twitter user revealed that Swiatek was ‘training for nose-breathing’.

They added: ‘It’s a more efficient and effective method of oxygen delivery to the body’s muscles, whoever has her training this way is smart tbh. They’re aiming for maximum endurance and knowing Iga, she’ll get there.’ 

One fan said on social media that the method was to help her train using nose-breathing

Whatever the reason, Swiatek is obviously pushing herself to the limit, as she looks to build on a successful year in which she won the French Open back in June.

Last week she clinched her home Polish Open with a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Laura Siegemund. 

She will get her Canadian Open campaign going on Wednesday against an opponent which is still to be decided after she had a first-round bye.

After her Polish Open success, she said: ‘What a week it has been! I read somewhere that this tournament is invalid compared to the ones ahead of me in Canada and in the US.

‘It was very important to me and I’m glad that I felt so much support and positive energy from you. Thank you for that and see you soon.’