How world No. 1 Iga Swiatek cracked tennis code
RIYADH: Simply over per week in the past, an exhausted Iga Swiatek sat down with a small group of journalists in a quiet nook of the media heart underneath the Philippe Chatrier stadium at Roland Garros to debate her emotions after lifting the second Grand Slam trophy of her younger profession.
The world No. 1 engaged in some idle chat earlier than everybody assembled for the roundtable. She spoke about heading to the close by Bois de Boulogne – a public park near Roland Garros – a minimum of 4 or 5 occasions through the match fortnight, the place she tried to attach with nature and calm down on her days off.
She expressed an curiosity in attending the subsequent day’s males’s ultimate between her idol Rafael Nadal and Norwegian Casper Ruud and puzzled if it will be a protracted showdown.
Swiatek’s personal French Open ultimate that afternoon, in opposition to American teenager Coco Gauff, had lasted simply 68 minutes.
That triumph on Parisian clay noticed Swiatek lengthen her present profitable streak to 35 matches, the joint-longest unbeaten run in ladies’s tennis this century. Solely two tennis gamers have put collectively longer profitable streaks within the 2000s: Novak Djokovic (43) and Roger Federer (41).
The 21-year-old from Poland has gained her final six consecutive tournaments – she has not misplaced a match since February – and heads to Wimbledon later this month a category aside from the remainder of the sector.
Swiatek sits atop the ladies’s rankings with a complete of 8,631 factors; her closest rival, world No. 2 Anett Kontaveit is over 4,000 factors adrift.
A captivating younger thoughts that loves math and chance and travels the tennis tour with a sports activities psychologist that has given her the instruments to achieve a psychological edge over her opponents on courtroom, Swiatek gave some perception into how she has been approaching these previous few months, how she dealt with the strain in Paris, and the place her better ambitions lie.
She appears like she has cracked the code
The way in which Swiatek assumed the function of world No. 1 so seamlessly after Ashleigh Barty’s shock retirement in March has been exceptional. Be it from the psychological facet of the game or the technical facets of the sport, it appears Swiatek has in some way cracked the code of tennis.
When she is in bother on courtroom, she finds a strategy to remedy the issue and comes out on high. Within the face of immense strain, she rises above it.
From the skin, it appears as if Swiatek at the moment has the cheat codes for the sport in her again pocket and that she has a solution for no matter comes her manner. Does it really feel that manner for her?
She mentioned: “Sure, I do, and that’s nice, as a result of I’ve by no means felt like that earlier than, and it offers loads by way of simply being assured and never being so scared.
“As a result of I used to be scared loads earlier than matches; I nonetheless do typically nevertheless it’s a lot, a lot better to know I can give you options and actually remedy issues. It’s completely completely different.”
She will not be quick on motivation
Swiatek loved a robust begin to 2022, making the semi-finals on the Australian Open because of adopting a extra aggressive sport that has helped her turn out to be a power on onerous courts, alongside her beloved clay.
When she gained Doha, Indian Wells, and Miami back-to-back-to-back, she turned the primary participant to ever win the primary three Girls’s Tennis Affiliation 1000-level tournaments of the season. Within the course of, she additionally turned No. 1 on the earth.
For some, that is likely to be loads to digest, and it will have been comprehensible had Swiatek taken a while to regulate to her new place on the high. However she didn’t, and as a substitute, she dug deep and stored on profitable, sweeping her subsequent tournaments in Stuttgart, Rome, and Paris.
Was it onerous to remain motivated all through that dominant stretch?
“I solely performed like one smaller match in Stuttgart, and you recognize what’s the prize there, so I assume it wasn’t that tough to get motivated,” she added, referring to the Porsche she gained by advantage of capturing the title within the German metropolis.
“I’m that sort of person who I at all times wish to win truthfully and I’m not going to let go and I’m not going to say, ‘oh I’m drained, so let’s settle for that possibly I’m going to lose,’ as a result of I at all times wish to win and I’m going to do all the pieces at all times to win. So, it simply occurred.”
That mentality actually explains loads.
She carved her personal path
Regardless that she gained her first Grand Slam on the age of 19, Swiatek didn’t spend her teenagers believing she might really obtain all the pieces she has been reaching over the previous couple of years.
After defeating 18-year-old Gauff in Paris final week, she highlighted how completely different her journey had been in comparison with the younger American and famous how developed Gauff’s profession was in comparison with her personal when she was her age.
On the French Open finalist, who’s at a career-high No. 13 on the earth this week, Swiatek mentioned: “I really feel like she’s doing all the pieces faster than many of the gamers and I’m fairly certain that she’s going to get right here sometime and win a Grand Slam, as a result of I really feel she was raised to try this. I hope she’s going to maintain it going.”
So, was Swiatek raised to try this too?
“I don’t assume so. That’s a tough one. I don’t assume so as a result of my journey from the start is what my dad thought was one of the best; and he made actually good selections and actually dangerous selections typically, nevertheless it wasn’t like I had 10 individuals round me telling us tips on how to take care of all the pieces and what to do.
“We had to decide on our personal path and for certain we acquired actually fortunate that he made some good selections and I had good coaches at the start; as a result of truthfully we didn’t have any system that would assist us,” she added.
She by no means thought she would attain the highest
Swiatek’s imaginative and prescient for her personal profession at 18 was to attempt to earn more cash from the game and to be as skilled as she could possibly be.
She mentioned: “For certain I needed to win some more cash. I used to be fairly upset as a result of I at all times felt I might do higher.
“I used to be raised to really possibly be skilled and to at all times have this sort of must get higher, which is usually not useful, as a result of if you’re a perfectionist, it may push you down.
“However principally, it was fairly onerous for me to assume that I’m going to be world No. 1 as a result of simply considering logically, if you take my nation; how many individuals have succeeded (in tennis)? It was solely Agnieszka (Radwanska) principally. So, the chance of me really turning into a tennis famous person was fairly small.
“I like math and my mind often thinks about chance so I felt that possibly it was not a certain factor, and it will be onerous to make it occur. I at all times had a plan B, even once I was 18. I nonetheless went to highschool, and I used to be actually targeted on that. I felt like I used to be working two jobs at a time and even in 2020, I nonetheless felt like I wanted a plan B if tennis was not going to work out. I’ve by no means felt like I used to be raised to try this,” she added.
Swiatek ended 2020 as a Grand Slam champion.
She needs Ash had been nonetheless round
When three-time main champion Barty introduced her sudden retirement in March, Swiatek cried for a number of hours, feeling confused and uncertain about what all of it meant.
Three months later, Swiatek has taken her personal sport to unimaginable heights and admits she needs Barty was nonetheless round so she might face her in her present high kind.
“I used to be fascinated with that the opposite day. I might have liked to be in a greater form than I used to be once I was enjoying in opposition to her and simply have extra selection and extra skills and to win in opposition to Ash; that will have been nice.”
Her subsequent huge objective?
When Swiatek gained her first Roland Garros in 2020, she stood on heart courtroom to offer her victory speech and mentioned she hoped she might sooner or later present that there may be consistency on the high of the ladies’s tour.
The depth in discipline has led to a number of turbulence on the highest stage within the WTA lately however Barty managed to carry the No. 1 rating for 121 weeks earlier than retiring, and Swiatek has not misplaced a match for the reason that Australian handed her the baton.
With that objective of bringing consistency to the ladies’s sport already crossed off her checklist, what was Swiatek’s subsequent huge goal?
She mentioned: “I don’t know, I’m not going to lie, it’s not like I’ve all the pieces deliberate and each objective prepared. I at all times needed to win each Grand Slam, possibly I’m going to stay to that.
“However I simply wish to take all the pieces match by match and we’re going to see. I’ve my targets off courtroom, like attempting to get tennis extra standard in Poland and possibly offering some amenities for youthful gamers. I do know higher what I wish to do greater than what comes up on Wikipedia after typing my title. However for certain profitable all 4 Grand Slams can be good.”
With the regular mindset she has adopted to date, it’s honest to imagine Swiatek will hit her targets each on the courtroom and off it.
Mastering the grass
Though she is a former Wimbledon junior champion, Swiatek admits she has but to unlock her full potential on the floor. She has solely performed the ladies’s occasion on the All England Membership twice, dropping within the first spherical in 2019 and reaching the fourth spherical final yr.
Her coach Tomasz Wiktorowski loved nice success along with his former participant Radwanska at Wimbledon (he guided her to the ultimate in 2012, and the semis in 2013, and 2015) and Swiatek believes he may also help her work out the grass in due time.
“My solely thought (heading into Wimbledon) is I wish to prepare and learn to play on grass higher and that is the one factor I’m going to be specializing in.
“For certain Wimbledon is particular however for me an important factor is to convey a great efficiency and I nonetheless haven’t reached the comfy feeling on grass, in order that’s going to be my solely objective.
“I don’t wish to take into consideration different stuff as a result of this comes first and with good outcomes and good performances, issues are going to come back,” she added.
