“My every move is judged” – Swiatek on pressure at the top
The world No 2 hinted at the pressure of expectation as she returns to a tournament she has won twice before
Iga Swiatek (Zuma/PSNewz)
Iga Swiatek returns to clay-court action this week with a tournament she has won twice before, the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
She is sitting snugly at world No 2, but remains 3,000 points behind Aryna Sabalenka at the top of the rankings.
And at her pre-tournament press conference, the Pole hinted at how she is dealing with her current challenges.
“My goal is to, like, focus on myself,” she said. “Yeah, it hasn’t been easy for past months because after having such great seasons, I’ve been on a spotlight and my every move is kind of judged, the expectations are high.
“But yeah, my goal is to focus on myself and focus on the process, on what I want to change on the court. For sure, with Wim [Fissette, coach], we have many ideas of how I can improve my technique. On practice court, it has been looking pretty well, so I want to implement that on matches.
“I try to keep myself busy with these things. I’m pretty sure if I am going to work hard, the results also are going to come after that. People also, I don’t know, they will say whatever they want to say. You sometimes need to ignore that.”
Swiatek: Transitioning to clay is easier
And asked about the transitions between surfaces, she said: “Clay, yeah, transitioning to clay will always be a bit easier. I just try to use that as my advantage.
“Yeah, but honestly there are many weeks as well of playing on clay, so I’m kind of keeping it cool and not judging from the first practices.”
She also dismissed the idea that she was worried about danger from spectators after an incident in Miami, adding: “I wouldn’t call it a threat because it wasn’t that hard. I mean, for sure there was a fan that wanted to, like, disrupt my rhythm. Yeah, well, I try to focus on the fans that are giving me support. But obviously when you hear something like that, you want to react. I think WTA helped us, helped me, to feel protected.”
