Iga Swiatek didn't have a really great start in Australia as she dealt with some stuff confirming that once more.
Swiatek will contest her first Grand Slam of the year at Roland Garros after booking her 3rd final in Paris with a win over Beatriz Haddad Maia. It was her most complicated match yet but she navigated it well taking the win in two sets.
The win is not pencilled in although her main competitor according to many, Aryna Sabalenka is out of the event after losing to Karolina Muchova. It's an easier matchup for Swiatek on paper but some numbers might actually prove otherwise. What is certain is that her overall mood is much better than it was earlier in the year in Australia.
She was asked about some comments she made earlier this year in Doha that alluded to her having a bad mindset during that time in Australia. She mentioned pressure and simply overanalyzing stuff which she talked about again.
Well, I wouldn't say in Australia I was in a good place, so since then I made progress and I kind of switched my mindset to kind of be more efficient and calm and not overanalyze everything, you know, and not overanalyze my situation. I would say I'm just in a different place, so it's pretty hard for me to compare.
The pressure is not any less in Paris compared to Melbourne because this time around she's actually the defending champion with a pretty impressive record at Roland Garros on stake. She confirmed that she's still feeling the pressure but she's better on clay than hard courts which helps.
Obviously, it's still, you know, a lot of pressure and it's not easy, but also on clay, I feel like I have, you know, more weapons than faster hard court. I'm trying to use that confidence and that feeling of being, you know, comfortable on that surface to just kind of focus on that a little bit more and play better because of that.