Iga Swiatek discusses ‘pretty dominant’ WTA form as she admits there is ‘much work to do’
Iga Swiatek admits she feels like she has been “pretty dominant” on the WTA Tour since her huge breakthrough in 2020 – but admits that there is still “so much work to do” to continue her success.
Swiatek began her Stuttgart campaign with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Elise Mertens on Thursday, delivering a solid performance on her favourite surface.
The Pole comes into the tournament having already won two titles this season – at the WTA events in Indian Wells and Doha – and she sits top of the WTA Race to Riyadh.
Swiatek is also guaranteed to become only the ninth woman in history to hit 100 weeks as world No 1 on Monday, having first reached the top spot just over two years ago.
Ever since winning her first tour title at the French Open in 2020 she has proven the dominant force in the women’s game, with 19 titles and four majors to her name.
And when asked following her victory over Mertens whether she was ready to become the ‘dominant player’ on tour, Swiatek revealed that she already felt she had stepped up to that mantle.
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“Well, the question is if I already did that for the past two years,” said Swiatek, in her post-match press conference.
“Because I feel like I have been pretty dominant, and also Aryna [Sabalenka] has been, so we both kind of have shown that there is consistency on WTA.
“I remember when I was playing in 2020, 2021, I also got many questions about consistency, and I felt like some players, you know, have proven that it’s possible. So I already feel like I have been pretty dominant.
“But we’ll see what next years are going to bring. There have been players that have been dominating throughout their whole careers, you know, and I’m still at the beginning.
“There is still so much work to do.”
“There is always place for Porsche“ – will @iga_swiatek a third one to her collection? ️#porschetennis #PTGP24 pic.twitter.com/KZ94iB5beU
— Porsche Tennis (@PorscheTennis) April 18, 2024
Though Stuttgart is only a WTA 500 event, the world No 1 does face particular pressure at the tournament this week.
Swiatek is a two-time defending champion at the popular tournament and victory this year would see her become the first player since Maria Sharapova in 2014 to ‘threepeat’ in Stuttgart.
She has already achieved such a feat this year, winning three titles in a row in Doha, and admitted that she does not feel any extra pressure to claim the title at this event once again.
Swiatek added: “Well, there is always pressure behind me somewhere. You can’t avoid that on this level and when you’re a favourite in every match – so I’m not really thinking about that.
“It’s tricky to win three times. I remember how I felt in Doha at the beginning of the tournament. Things were kind of following me, and it was hard to let it go.
“Here I just try to focus on the game, and I remember playing really some tricky matches during the past two years. It’s never an easy tournament, so I don’t expect it.
“I’m not taking it for granted or anything. I know that anything can happen in tennis, and if I lose, it’s going to obviously be a huge surprise, but it’s normal.
“I’ll try to focus on each match at a time and not think about winning because it’s still a long way.”
