Iga Swiatek might be one of the best players in the world, but she's also just a human who has struggled with pressure in the past.
Swiatek won her first Grand Slam trophy at a time when nobody really expected it. She didn't expect it either, as she wasn't even highly ranked. It was the pandemic Roland Garros held much later in the year, and she dominated everybody.
There were unique conditions, and she handled it really well. It's actually a very similar run to that of Emma Raducanu, as she blasted everybody en route to her first major, including former champion Simona Halep.
The following year was a tough one for Swiatek as she was the defending champion of a major for the first time in her career.
She struggled with that, especially since her run the previous year shocked everybody, including herself. She struggled to sleep and was generally quite consumed by the pressure, as she recently revealed at the 2024 Miami Open.
"Yeah, I think Roland Garros 2021 was a great example 'cause -- for sure being the defending champion, especially after a Grand Slam where you weren't really expected to do anything, it wasn't really easy. I remember I couldn't sleep and everything."
It didn't go well, and she failed to defend her trophy. She would finally defend a major last year at Roland Garros when she beat Karolina Muchova in the final.
It wasn't easy, and she admitted it was one of the toughest things she's ever done, but she did it. She grew as a player in the meantime and found ways to deal with her doubts.
"Now I have some solutions to overcome these kind of issues. Back then, like, the whole tournament was really tough emotionally. I wouldn't have made the same mistakes on next ones. So yeah, this is a good example."
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