Iga Swiatek working on lowering her expectations for herself
World No 1 Iga Swiatek says that she feels the need to lower the expectations she has for herself.
Swiatek suffered an early exit from the Australian Open, albeit to eventual finalist Elena Rybakina.
After soaking up that defeat, Swiatek believes that she might have been overly harsh on herself after her loss.
She added that she was plagued by the desire to play the perfect match every time she played on her trip to Australia.
“Exactly what I needed was to reset it a little bit, and I knew what I did wrong at the Australian Open and over my whole stay in Australia,” Swiatek said.
“I really wanted to focus on getting my expectations lower and not expect from myself that I’m gonna, you know, play perfectly all the time.
“Because, yeah, last season was so strange, actually, that it can actually mess up with your head a little bit.”
Swiatek has relished getting some preparation time in ahead of her return to action.
“I really wanted to get both my feet on the ground, just focus on hard work and what I have to do on court. I was really happy because we did. I would say even in the last part of the preseason, our practices were really intense and like, the volume was also pretty big. So I feel like I could really focus on the technical stuff and just improve as a player.”
Swiatek is well-loved on the tour despite not being a flashy brash personality.
She feels that her fans might just be introverts like her and can relate to the way she is on court and off it.
“I’m just myself, authentic, and I see that it works, because people appreciate my honesty, they know I’m a real person.
“I’m not trying to be a different person, I don’t have a magic fix for that. Perhaps there are people who can identify with me because they are introverts as well.
“Not everyone is an extrovert, there is room for everyone,” she said.
“Swiatek has two management teams helping her take care of her career with IMG taking care of her internationally while she has another team managing her affairs in Poland.
“I have decided to create my own solution within my management to have a complementary team that supports my career.
I am working with IMG and still have my Polish team where my PR manager is in charge of my communications globally and my partnership manager is in charge of my Polish deals. I am from Poland and currently have the biggest impact there and it is important for me to use it well.
This year we will have some exciting news. Their assistance is also very valuable in the daily life of the Tour. They have a great team and resources that make my life much easier and help me focus on tennis.”
