World number one Iga Swiatek has described herself as a perfectionist after claiming her fifth Grand Slam title.
The Pole won her fourth Roland Garros title after thrashing Jasmine Paolini with the loss of three games.
Another incredible title in Paris means that she has tied Justine Henin on Roland Garros titles.
Speaking after the match Swiatek called herself a ‘perfectionist’ after admitting putting pressure on herself, “Well, when I do anything, I want to do it 100%,” Swiatek stated in her press conference.
“It is, yeah, I think when you’re a perfectionist, you are a perfectionist everywhere. But, yeah, so yeah, basically it comes up to, like, doing everything 100% and sometimes not being able to let it go, you know.
“But I’m working on it, and this is a tricky thing, because for sure it helps you to be better, but sometimes it can be huge baggage, as well. So it’s good to manage it properly.
“When I talk about pressure, I usually put pressure on myself because of pressure of the outside. Obviously I’m a perfectionist, so there is always pressure, like, behind me. But I think I’m fine with, like, handling my own pressure. It’s when the pressure from the outside hits me, then it’s a little bit worse.
“But I managed it really well at this tournament. It was an emotional win, because I felt, you know, a lot of stress yesterday and today in the morning. And I knew if I’m going to just focus on tennis I can kind of fight through it, and at the end it all went how I wanted. So I just felt really proud of myself.”
Swiatek has had an incredible journey to clay court domination having started out with a winning streak on the ITF circuit to winning Wimbledon Juniors to now having five Grand Slam titles.
The Pole described the journey as ‘crazy’ and also spoke about enjoying life off-court having won Madrid, Rome and Roland Garros, “Yeah, it’s pretty crazy. In tennis, I feel like this journey, like, it’s pretty fair for everybody,” Swiatek said in deep thought.
“You just have to fight through these moments where you can’t get into tournaments and play on ITF level and then start playing on WTA level. But it all went pretty quickly for me, like, my progress was basically like that. I never really stopped. I’m for sure proud of it. Yeah, it’s weird, but on the other hand it’s normal, because I was, what, 18 or something?
“Well, I honestly learned that I can make it. Because at the beginning when I, like, eight weeks ago when I went to Fed Cup and then I didn’t, you know, come back home for all these weeks, I was, like, oh, my God. I mean, when I look at my calendar on my phone, it looks crazy, how am I going to survive that?
“But here I am. Honestly, I think I learned that if I enjoy life off the court, and I really enjoyed being in Madrid, Rome, and here, it helps me also to be fresh on court. So I think I had, like, less drama compared to last year, and I could really just enjoy life. So then I felt, you know, more energy on the court.”
Now having conquered the clay it’s time for Swiatek to tackle the grass which is a surface that hasn’t always been kind to her.
However Swiatek pointed to her quarter-final performance at Wimbledon last year and spoke about how there is no need for extra preparation, “I had these ideas, like, I don’t know, doing preseason on grass so I can learn how to play there. Last year’s result was pretty nice,” Swiatek noted.
“I feel like every year it’s easier for me to adapt to grass. So I think there is no need to do that. I just need to continue the work that I’ve been doing, and, yeah, it’s been easier every year, especially with my coach who, with Radwanska, they had great results on grass and he kind of feels grass well, I think.
“But yeah, for sure it’s a huge challenge. If I would lose here earlier, maybe I would be able to play two more weeks on grass and then be a better grass player, but if I would choose, I love playing on clay, so I’m not going to give up that ever.”
