"I feel like I'm at home, so I'm under pressure" - Swiatek ready for Ostrava challenge

| by Balasz Virag

Iga Swiatek returns to Ostrava one year after making the semifinals and losing to Maria Sakkari with the hope of going further.

The number one player in the world is happy to be back in Ostrava because it's a city that embraced her warmly last year. She also has many Polish fans supporting her due to the city's proximity to the Polish border.

"It was pretty fun because basically most of the people in the stands were Polish so I feel like I'm at home. I really like that it's so calm here because after cities like New York it's good to come to a place you can really rest here.. Maybe my friends going to come, but only if I make it to the semifinals. So I'm under pressure."

Swiatek finally had some downtime after New York to relax and think back on her tenacious US Open title run."

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"It gave me the feeling I can win in any conditions. Even though I'm not feeling perfect, I can still perform well and put pressure on my opponents."

But after taking a full week off, Swiatek returned to the Warsaw practice courts to get ready for the final six weeks of her season.

"The conditions [in Warsaw] are similar to what we have here. This tournament could be tough because I haven't played any matches in three weeks. And coming back after winning a Grand Slam is always tricky. But tennis-wise I feel that I'm ready."

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