The young Polish player Iga Swiatek, winner of Roland Garros last year, assured Sunday that she had only “modest expectations” for the Australian Open, where she hopes to renew the winning recipe in Paris: relaxation and fun.
The first Polish male and female to win a major tennis title is in Melbourne for the Australian Open which is due to start on February 8. After a mandatory quarantine, the 19-year-old will play her first match this week.
“I’m not anxious, I’m mostly excited,” she said. “Basically, I have a little stress but it’s normal”. “I don’t feel more pressure than before Roland-Garros. In fact, I am quite confident that I can play good tennis but it all depends on my preparation, my attitude ”.
“I try to have modest expectations, even though I had a very good preseason,” continued 17-ranked Swiatek.th.
A near-unknown teenager who rose to fame as the youngest woman to win the Paris tournament since Monica Seles in 1992, Iga Swiatek admitted that her life had changed with her victory at Roland Garros. And that she accepted the additional obligations associated with her new status.
“It’s not embarrassing. It’s really nice,” she said. “Obviously, I have more media obligations. At the moment, I have the impression that there are more eyes on me ”.
Named the player with the most progress at the WTA 2020 trophies, she attributed her performance at Roland Garros to being relaxed and having fun, a formula she hopes to repeat at the Australian Open.
“In fact, just before the tournament (Roland Garros), I had my own doubts and I didn’t know if I would be ready to play my best tennis,” she said. “I changed my attitude … and I didn’t think about winning, I just focused on having fun on the court, not all the expectations.”
“As much as it sounds really weird not to care before a tournament, sometimes it’s good because you can have that distance and see things, not emotionally but more rationally.” “I’m going to try to do this (at the Australian Open), but I don’t know if I can do it on the snap of a finger.
