Swiatek begins Rome campaign: “I’m struggling with my perfectionism”
Having fallen on hard times on her favourite surface, the Pole will be looking to bounce back in Rome, where she is the defending champion
Iga Swiatek (Tennis Majors)
It’s a serious situation for Iga Swiatek. With three weeks to go until the French Open, which she has won four times, the Pole has yet to win a title on clay this season. In Stuttgart, she failed to reach the quarter-finals, losing to her bête noire Jelena Ostapenko before a heavy defeat to Coco Gauff (6-1, 6-1) in the semi-finals in Madrid.
Leaving aside the 2020 season, played during the Covid-19 pandemic, Swiatek has never arrived in Paris without a title. In Rome, she will be looking to defend the title she won against Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s final, and the former world No 1 has highlighted that she is struggling with one of her characteristics: her perfectionism.
“This year I feel like I am struggling a bit more with my perfectionism,” she told reporters in a press conference. “I want to for sure focus on, like, being disciplined on the court and making right choices, not the choices that sometimes pop out in my head, but being really solid. Yeah, I think I can do that. This is my main focus now.”
She added: “I have love-and-hate relationship with my perfectionism. Yeah, like coming on these clay court tournaments, I just kind of try to reflect on how I see my game and how I also saw previous seasons.”
Swiatek – I only remember the good stuff
Largely dominant on clay since her first title at Roland Garros in 2020, Swiatek has never looked so vulnerable on this surface than she has this year. The vast majority of the players she has come up against have caused her problems, something that was far from frequent before. It’s something she has to adjust to.
“The thing is that I only remember the good stuff from last years because I was winning titles and everything. My head kind of remembers the good stuff. Sometimes I’m on court, I feel like I’m going to play this loopy forehand there, my great backhand there. I’m making decisions that are not really good at the moment because I just remember how it felt previous tournaments or previous years. I kind of assume it’s going to go in, and then I make mistakes. It’s not the same, I’m confused.”
Swiatek is not discouraged, however, and seems to have realised that she should not be expecting too much from the court at the moment.
“It’s good to remember that it wasn’t so perfect last year, so I don’t compare all the time.
“Yeah, because when you just go out on court and you constantly hope that you’re going to play better than what you actually maybe can that day, you’re going to be disappointed anyway.
“I’m working on that, and we’ll see how it’s going to end.”
Swiatek will begin her Rome campaign against Elina Avanesyan (world No 38) or Elisabetta Cocciaretto (world No 82).
