Iga Swiatek was spotted crying after her difficult match against Naomi Osaka at the 2024 Roland Garros, and she explained why it had happened.
The world no. 1 player is under a lot of pressure this year because she will probably always face a lot of pressure at the Roland Garros. She won the event three times in the past, so she's always the top favourite coming into it.
The pressure has been even higher due to her impressive form this year, which includes back-to-back titles in Madrid and Rome. Some of that pressure got to her in the match against Osaka, especially with the Japanese player playing one of her best matches in a very long time.
She put her under a lot of pressure to get to a match point, but she couldn't use it, which allowed Swiatek to fight back and win. It was a huge comeback and a huge emotional release for the Pole, but it only properly hit her after the match when she was spotted crying.
Speaking with the media after her win over Marie Bouzkova, Swiatek admitted that it was just an emotional release after a very tough match that she thought she was going to lose.
"Maybe I was crying because there are cameras on the gym. Well, just overwhelmed with emotions. I honestly thought that I'm going to be out of the tournament. Even though I felt something on court, it kind of hit me after. I was happy that I won, but I still felt like I was really on the edge. I just cried."
Swiatek is no stranger to crying, even on the tennis court. It's just a way she deals with emotions, and it's perfectly healthy. No one is a rock, and matches like the one against Osaka are hugely emotional.
It was the closest Swiatek had come to losing since her Madrid Open battle with Sabalenka, and nobody saw it coming.