Players often cherish the moments at their 'home' tournaments, and that very time has come for Polish star Iga Swiatek.
When spending the vast majority of the year on the move, living out of a suitcase, any time spent in one's home country is time well spent. That is why it is often considered to be one (or more) of the best weeks of the calendar.
Therefore, when the opportunity to play at a clay event in her home city of Warsaw, Polish talent Iga Swiatek could not resist. Despite making the hard choice to stay on the orange dirt while the rest of the WTA Tour moves onto hard, Swiatek was keen to stay at home.
The Poland Open in Warsaw will be the first event she will play after her streak-ending loss at Wimbledon to Alize Cornet, but it is not the first of her commitments in the country - she recently participated in the charity event for Ukraine in Krakow before heading east to the capital.
Wanting to make it a mini-tour in front of her home fans, the chance to play in her country is something which gives her great pride, hence her making the effort to stay there:
"I want to play in Warsaw as long as possible. This is a special tournament for me, playing at home. I know someone may expect I start another winning streak but I just want to have fun on court and present the best tennis."
Swiatek is not thinking too far ahead as she is determined to do well at home and bring some joy to the Polish fans in attendance. Having said that, she will certainly be a force to be reckoned with when she makes her way to North America with her hard court level reaching dazzling heights throughout this season (winning Miami and Indian Wells).
