Iga Swiatek feels the full impact of a Grand Slam success: "More pressure than usual"
The French Open winner Iga Swiatek is going to be a major winner in a Grand Slam tournament for the first time. This has a direct impact on expectations, as the Pole herself admits.
by tennisnet.com
last edit:
Feb 06, 2021, 05:09 pm
The 19-year-old became the youngest Paris winner since Monica Seles in 1992 in October, and the first player to win the tournament without losing a set since Justine Henin in 2007.
At the Australian Open she is number 15, she plays the first round against Arantxa Rus, number 74 in the world from the Netherlands.
"Actually, I feel more pressure than usual," said Swiatek on Saturday, confirming Dominic Thiem's feeling. After his triumph at the US Open, the US Open winner also hoped to feel less nervous in his future matches, but the opposite was the case.
"I'm not seen as an underdog anymore, people treat me differently," said Swiatek. "I may have to adapt to that. But I want to continue enjoying everything and dampen my expectations. Everyone starts from zero when we get on the pitch, that's what I'll bet."
Swiatek wants to be more happy about the little things, such as being able to be in Australia at all, and enjoy the moment. She and her team spent some time on the beach, hopefully that would help her with her project.
Swiatek has not played a professional match since winning at Roland Garros. At the Gippsland Trophy she first defeated Kaja Juvan before failing in two sets against Ekaterina Alexandrova. "I hope for a flow at the Australian Open, I'll give it my all," she said, although: "A few matches would have done me pretty good."
Before the start of the Australian Open 2020, Swiatek was still outside the top 50 in the world rankings. Today she is one of the favorites. If everything goes according to the paper form, the first seed would wait for Swiatek in the third round with Elena Rybakina.