Iga Swiatek claims women get different treatment and reflects on her first meeting with Rafael Nadal
World No 1 Iga Swiatek has opened up on a variety of contentious issues in the game, including her belief that women are not given the same respect as male players.
In an interview with Polish outlet Sportowe Fakty, the best player in women’s tennis suggested she was consistently asked about her emotional reaction to the 2021 WTA Finals, with her perception that the media questioning is negative.
She went on to suggest the reaction to female players showing their emotions on court is treated differently when compared to star names on the ATP Tour.
“Journalists often ask me about the 2021 WTA Finals in Guadalajara,” she said.
“It’s not good when your emotions prevent you from continuing to play or perform your best tennis. Sometimes people don’t understand that a player also has the right to emotions
“It’s much harder for athletes to forgive them. That’s why I felt ashamed after Guadalajara. Today I believe that we should not be like rocks.
“If I pretended to be indestructible, I would be distorting reality. I prefer to show my real face.
“Women are judged more harshly, as if we had no control over our emotions at all.
“During the ATP Finals, we saw that men also react differently on the court, sometimes they are aggressive, sometimes they also cry.
“However, in men’s tennis, it is accepted and interpreted as a passion that leads to success.”
In a revealing interview, Swiatek also went on to suggest her first meeting with her idol Rafael Nadal was an interesting experience.
The Polish star admits she has an introverted personality and to calm her nerves ahead of meeting Nadal, she wrote down some words on a note to remind her of what to say.
“I don’t remember what was on that note, but this was not a unique situation,” she stated. “I did this more often as a teenager. I recommend it to all introverts! If I didn’t know someone, I didn’t know what we could talk about. Now I’m opening up more and more.
“I wouldn’t want anyone to look at me as a person from another world now. And (Nadal) thought I had no problems, that everything was perfect with me.
“Each of us has our own bubble on tour. We let the most important people in and its interior looks different than you can read in the media.”
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Swiatek’s ability to deal with pressure has also been a topic in tennis since her rise to the top and she went on to suggest losing the world No 1 ranking to Ayrna Sabalenka after the US Open was a liberating experience.
Swiatek was thrust into the position of world No 1 unexpectedly when Ashleigh Barty quit tennis at the start of 2022 and it seems that burden weighed heavily on her.
“In the middle of the year I carried a burden related to – I do not like this term and I try to avoid it – maintaining the ranking,” she reflected.
“Aryna Sabalenka had many chances to jump over me, it finally happened. Then I felt free.It was a bit easier for me to focus only on my game again.”
That release of tension certainly seemed to work for Swiatek, as she turned in a series of impressive performances to win the WTA Finals in Cancun.
Swiatek will start 2024 as the world No 1 and she will be aiming to handle the pressures that come with that status a little more efficiently in her second stint as the queen of tennis.
