Iga Swiatek admits she feels different than usual heading into the new season because of her outstanding 2022 season.
Swiatek did not win a Grand Slam in 2021, and no analyst predicted that she would be the most dominant WTA player this season. However, that is precisely what she achieved.
The Pole won the French Open and US Open, went on a sensational 37-match winning streak from the Qatar Open until losing in the third round of Wimbledon in July, and has been the world No. 1 since April 2022.
Unsurprisingly, Swiatek was named the 2022 WTA Player of the Year after those exceptional efforts. The other nominees were Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula, Caroline Garcia, Elena Rybakina, and Ons Jabeur.
That means Swiatek will need to handle much more pressure at the start of the 2023 season than in 2022. Although the 21-year-old is among the mentally toughest players on the WTA Tour, the adjustment could still be challenging.
Swiatek spoke about that dynamic in a recent interview with the National. The three-time Grand Slam champion hopes to continue what she did in 2022 next year but admits entering a new season after such a successful year feels strange.
"My main goal is to continue what I’ve been doing last year and not really come back to all these matches that I played, because that may really kind of make me lazy. "But still focus on just the next one and remember that in tennis anything can happen in any tournament."
"I just want to keep being consistent. But the specific goals I think they’re going to come when I’m going to be closer to the tournament. It’s kind of weird because I’ve never been in such a situation where I had such a great season. So for sure I need to approach next year a little bit differently."
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