Iga Swiatek says she doesn’t want to put too much pressure on herself heading into the Australian Open where she will be aiming to win her fifth Grand Slam title.
The world No.1 will be making her sixth appearance at Melbourne Park with her best result at the tournament to date being a run to the semi-final stage in 2022. This year she was knocked out in the fourth round by Elena Rybakina who went on to reach the final. So far in her career, Swiatek has won 15 matches at the Australian Open which makes it her third most successful Grand Slam in terms of victories. The only event where she has won fewer matches is Wimbledon.
There will inevitably be high expectations for the Pole to perform well at the first major of the 2024 season. However, she has vowed to stay grounded about her chances and doesn’t want to get ahead of herself.
“I did semi-finals the year before (in 2022), and last year was fourth round,” Swiatek told reporters on Thursday.
“I don’t feel like I need to defend a lot.
“When you are a defending champion, obviously there is something else to the tournament. I feel like I can kind of take it easy.
“I haven’t won the Australian Open yet, so I can only kind of look forward and try to achieve my goals.”
The 22-year-old has experienced a mixed season which has seen her lose her No.1 ranking to Aryna Sabalenka before she reclaimed it a few weeks later at the WTA Finals in Cancun. She described the past 12 months as having a lot of ‘ups and downs’ but now feels more prepared in how to deal with the pressure of being No.1.
As for what it is like being the highest-ranked player in the world, Swiatek describes it as a bit of a roller-coaster.
“Well, it depends on the situation, my mood and mindset,” she explains.
“It can really be motivating and inspiring.
“There were plenty of tournaments where I really feel like I’m using that as an opportunity to have better confidence and to even have an impact on my opponents mentally a little bit.
“But also I had some tournaments where I felt like the pressure is pretty big.
“So I guess, as in life, there are going to be ups and downs.
“For now I’m really enjoying the fact that I actually did it last year, and I came back to be world No.1 at the end of the season, and I’m really proud of that.”
Swiatek will begin her season at the United Cup. Poland will play their group ties in Perth against Spain and Brazil.
