Iga Swiatek added a fourth consecutive trophy to her tally at the 2022 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, but she's not thinking about Paris and the French Open.
Swiatek has won 23 matches in a row and her last seven finals without dropping a set. Heading into the next part of the season, she will be a heavy favorite to win every event since she is extremely good on clay and nobody else is playing at her level.
At the WTA 500 tournament in Stuttgart, she was able to easily beat the likes of Emma Raducanu, 6-4, 6-4, and Aryna Sabalenka, 6-2, 6-2, with Liudmila Samsonova providing the most resistance, as the Polish player needed three sets to win 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-5.
After the win, the World No. 1 player admitted that while she saw the Roland Garros as the end goal, she didn't want to have her focus too far ahead, instead focusing on the upcoming tournaments.
"Every time the clay season starts you can still see Paris on the horizon, but I try to approach each game with a clean sheet and focus only on the next step, because it gives me a lot. I saw this season that it’s just easier for me to live this way."
Swiatek wants to prepare in the best possible way, and physical preparation is a crucial part. That's why her team tries to prepare her well for the clay-court season, as she has the biggest chance to succeed on the red dirt.
"Certainly when it comes to tennis and physical preparations the coaches are preparing the top form for Paris, but I have the same mental approach to each game and it gives me the greatest freedom."
She had no issues in her first final on clay this season, dispatching Sabalenka with ease 6-2, 6-2. She talked about the final, saying she approached it like any other match.
"I approach the final just like any other match. I try to use the experienced I gained this season in which I played a lot of finals. Some of them were more stressful, like today. For others I decided that I would play better if I approach this match as I would any other match."
"Every hour spent on the court gave me a lot, so with time I felt more comfortable on this surface. The final match, analysed in terms of purely tennis, was my most solid performance."