Rock fan Swiatek rolls on to Grand Slam glory
Pole’s incredible win streak continues with French Open triumph
PARIS — From bashful Rafael Nadal fan to the hard rock of Led Zeppelin and Guns N’ Roses to the undisputed queen of women’s tennis, Iga Swiatek has come a long way.
Having captured a first major at the pandemic-hit and delayed French Open in October 2020, Swiatek added a second at Roland Garros on Saturday to cap a sensational year so far for the Pole.
In March, as she celebrated winning the Indian Wells-Miami double, she took the world No 1 ranking when Ashleigh Barty announced her shock retirement.
“I didn’t think it was going to turn out this way,” Swiatek said of her sudden rise to the top.
“I don’t know if I deserve it. Now maybe a little more, because winning that title in Florida was very difficult.”
It was in Australia that Swiatek played her first Grand Slam in 2019, reaching the second round. A few months later, she only lasted 45 minutes in the last 16 against Simona Halep on her French Open debut.
It all started coming together for Swiatek in 2020 — a run to the fourth round in Melbourne, a third round at the US Open and then going all the way to lift the French Open trophy, which was also her first title on the WTA circuit.
That propelled her into the top 20 in the world rankings. She also graduated from high school.
“Before, tennis was not the main part of her life. It was difficult. Imagine — practice at seven in the morning, because she had to go to school afterward. And she arrived tired, because she had to study at night,” said Piotr Sierzputowski, her coach at the time.
Swiatek remains scholarly, devouring 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, a bestseller by Yuval Noah Harari while in Paris this year.
She has since started Alexandre Dumas’ classic adventure novel The Three Musketeers.
Led Zep playlist
As well as literature, Swiatek also enjoys music. After her semifinal victory over Daria Kasatkina, she
revealed she listens to rock songs to motivate her. “I try to treat every match the same, and if I realize this is one of the most important matches of the season it stresses me out,” she said. “So I just listen to music — Led Zeppelin, it really pumps me up.”
Working with a sports psychologist also puts her in the right frame of mind. “At the top level, everyone is capable of playing well, but the best are those who are strongest in the head,” she said in 2020.
Swiatek was described as a “beast of the competition” by Sierzputowski, who added: “When she enters the court, she is ready for anything... she has a hunger for victories.”
Born in Warsaw, Swiatek came to tennis because she wanted to beat her big sister.
A competitive spirit no doubt inherited from her father, Tomasz Swiatek, a former rower who took part in the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
This early competitive mindset allowed her to win the first professional tournament she played, in 2016 in Stockholm, on the secondary ITF circuit.
Two years later, she lifted the junior trophy at Wimbledon in singles and at the French Open in doubles.
Now, with six titles on the main circuit, the rocking Pole is securely in place on top of the charts.
Gallant Gauff
Gauff, meanwhile, accepted that Swiatek was simply “too good” on Saturday, with the teen processing the defeat as a learning experience.
“Obviously, when I lost the first couple of games, the nerves started to come, but when I lost the first set I really came out in the second and had a new mindset,” she said.
“But I think for the most part, I think that Iga was just too good today. It’s one of those matches that, yes, I, in some moments, could have played better. But she really didn’t give me anything. Every time I thought I hit a good ball, it wasn’t.
“There is a reason why she’s on a winning streak. I’m just glad that I really tried my best today.”