Iga Swiatek has reflected on her experiences as a grand slam champion as she looks ahead to her opening match.
It was in October last year where Swiatek’s life changed forever as she won her first grand slam title at Roland Garros beating Sofia Kenin in the final.
Now the Pole heads into Roland Garros having won two more titles in Adelaide and Rome as she looks to become the first player since Justine Henin to successfully defend her title in Paris.
Ahead of her title defence Swiatek reflected on her first experience as a grand slam champion, “For me, it was totally new experience and nobody was expecting that,” Swiatek told the press on Friday.
“So for me the harder part was actually, you know, learning how to deal with business side of sport and, you know, dealing with all the new obligations that I have and new responsibilities. But as soon as I learned how to do that it was much, much better.
“That’s why the first few weeks were really, really hard for me, and then it became easier, because I just had to learn how to deal with that, as any other thing. When something is new for you, you’re not as confident as you would like to be.
“So, yeah, for sure when I started the season I felt like it’s a little bit overwhelming for me, but then after Australian Open and after Adelaide, I found my rhythm in all of that, so it was good.”
One of the key areas that saw the 19 year-old lift the title was Swiatek’s sports psychologist Daria Abramowicz and once again Swiatek has her in the coaching team in Paris.
The 8th seed spoke about what advice Daria has given her ahead of her first grand slam title defence, “You know, we are just focusing on treating this tournament the same as any other, because that’s the most important thing,” Iga revealed.
“You know, the season is long, and I have played many tournaments until that stage, and I’m gonna have many more chances after. I’m just trying to, you know, lower my expectations and remember that from the experience of other players it’s not easy to be a defending champion, so I’m giving myself time.
“She’s encouraging me to do that and explaining that it’s a good way to approach stuff, because, yeah, it may be really, really stressful, but I just want to be the same competitor as any other girl.”
Iga’s first match will be against good friend Kaja Juvan and the Pole isn’t phased by playing a player she knows so well early on in the tournament, “Yeah, it’s not easy to play against your best friend. It wasn’t like nice to see that, because one of us is going to lose,” Swiatek admitted.
“But, you know, we know each other’s game pretty well, so I think the most important thing is gonna be to really be prepared in terms of tactics. For sure that match in February is giving me more confidence.
“I am actually good at, you know, forgetting that I’m playing against my
best friend and just, you know, just playing tennis and just hitting the ball. Of course it’s going to be tricky because it’s first round.
“It’s first match as defending champion and against Kaja. I just want to keep my routines and focus on little things. It gave me good results earlier, so hopefully it’s gonna be the same.”
The world number nine will play her first match on Monday or Tuesday.
