World number one Iga Swiatek admitted she is enjoying the pressures of success more in comparison with previous years as she reached the Roland Garros semi-finals.
The Pole’s bid for a fourth Roland Garros title continued as she dismantled Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova 6-0 6-2 in 62 minutes.
It was a clinical display from Swiatek as she once again proved that she is the player to beat at Roland Garros.
Speaking after her annihilation, Swiatek admitted she is feeling more confident with each match as she targets a third consecutive title in Paris, “Well, it was a really solid performance,” Swiatek underwhelmingly claimed it as.
“Probably the best I have had here, so I’m happy that my game is getting better and better every day and I feel pretty confident today.”
Swiatek’s confidence is clear to see as she aims for more Roland Garros success this year.
It would be Swiatek’s fourth title at Roland Garros if she were to win this year and the Pole was questioned about how she would describe her form in comparison to previous years.
The world number one admitted she feels more satisfaction with this year’s results as last year was stressful, “Well, I don’t really remember how I felt, honestly, because these tournaments are long and, like, I don’t remember, like every day, I would say,” Swiatek stated.
“But I remember last year was really stressful for me, so every match was, like, kind of like a relief, you know. Now I’m enjoying it more, and I have more satisfaction from just playing my game. Two years ago I would say in my mind it felt pretty similar, because I just felt like I had already a great season, and now I can just go for it, you know.
“And 2020, it doesn’t really fit anyway, because it was just all, you know, hectic and it was all a surprise.”
It’s clear that Swiatek is enjoying her tennis right now as she is already building a career that could be considered amongst the best of all-time.
Many people have already compared Swiatek to Steffi Graf, who won 22 Grand Slam singles titles.
The Pole spoke about Graff’s game and how she feels about the comparison, “She’s a great champion, and, well, it’s just nice that anybody would compare me to her,” Swiatek happily said.
“Because I feel like — I don’t know her, but I feel like maybe she was kind of a similar person to me because she also likes to keep her privacy, and now you can see that she’s just enjoying life and she knows that she worked hard to have a little bit of peace, you know, right now.
“I also heard from some people on tour that she was also kind of like an introvert, really in the zone and just focusing on tennis and what she wants to do. That’s what I heard tennis-wise. I mean, it’s kind of hard to compare because these were totally different times.
“Probably I don’t have such a good slice as her and volleys, but it’s nice that anybody would compare me to her, because she’s great.”
Swiatek will hope that she can have half the career that Graff had as the Pole looks to continue to cement her legacy.
Now Swiatek will continue her bid on Thursday for a fourth Roland Garros title when she takes on Coco Gauff.
Heading into the match the world number one has a 9-1 win-loss record against the US Open champion.
