Iga Swiatek explained how she benefits greatly from having a psychologist with her on the Tour and that the assistance helps her overcome self-doubt.
Swiatek has enjoyed a remarkable rise up the WTA Rankings in 2022. She is the World No. 1 player at 21, she has a Grand Slam title to her name – the 2020 French Open - and is currently on a 33-match win streak.
She will face Daria Kasatkina in the semi-final of the 2022 Roland Garros, and a lot of the credit for her success goes to her psychologist, Daria Abramowicz.
At the 2022 Roland Garros, Swiatek spoke about Abramowicz, and how her psychologist is able to help her simply by talking to her and reminding her of her strengths.
“It’s pretty hard to know [how I’m developing psychologically] that because since my psychologist is travelling with me. We talk over lunch so it’s hard to say but it is always important for me, and I’m happy that I have a person that I can talk to and that when I have some doubts, I can really you know look for another opinion and a person who’s going to remind me sometimes where my strengths are."
Swiatek also explained different approaches that tennis players take when it comes to psychologists. While some just want to hold a few sessions, some, like her, want to have the psychologists travelling with them.
"It depends on the player how they wanna work because for some players it’s okay to just have a few sessions a month. I, for example, felt like it’s pretty nice that my psychologist is travelling with me because it would be hard for me to trust somebody if somebody wouldn’t be here and wouldn’t see how I react after I lose, how I react after I win, and basically it’s easier when we got to know each other."
Speaking about her tournament, the Polish player admitted that she felt more pressure at the Roland Garros, as it's a Grand Slam tournament. She also admitted to having doubts, which she was able to overcome by growing in confidence thanks to her tennis.
“I have to prove to myself the sky is the limit. This tournament is also tricky because it’s a Grand Slam. And the atmosphere is different, the pressure is a little bit higher."
"You always have some doubts, the way that you process it is the most important. I’m pretty happy how I have used these matches to have more confidence and to kind of play more fearlessly."