The Polish Iga Swiatek, number 1 in the world, gave a long interview to the site Tennis Connected in which he spoke a lot about his motivations for continuing to compete, after having achieved great career achievements at a very young age. Swiatek recalled that tennis is a ‘sport for losers’.
The Polish woman was asked about what it was like to win the biggest title of her career, her first Roland Garros at the age of 19, and pointed out that to some extent, despite being difficult, it is motivating.
“In a way, winning such a big tournament at such a young age makes it harder to win again due to the added pressure and expectations from others, society but also myself. Most players have the sole aim of winning a big tournament like this. a Grand Slam. I achieved this at the beginning of my career, which only made me even more anxious to win more. This feeling is something I try to deal with and use as motivation”, she declared that throughout the interview she highlights needs for improvement in her looting and also mental aspects, like other improvements in blows he already does well.
Swiatek was asked what it was like to be the first Polish woman to win a Grand Slam singles tournament in 2020 and how much that kind of achievement inspires her.
“First of all, I am driven by the pursuit of excellence and the entertainment of the public. I like to play well and aggressively but also show some sophistication at the level of more complex rallies or difficult strokes. Winning is important, but tennis is a sport of losers. In a match, there is only one winner and everyone else loses. I want to be a consistent player and have a long and healthy career, so even if I am driven by winning, I always try to find pleasure in the process, in the daily work and in defeat, because that’s part of the job”, he confessed.
When asked about what it’s like to be an inspiration for the new generations, the Polish woman said that this is one of her main goals and has already seen results: “I see my impact in Poland in terms of making tennis more and more popular, but still there is a lot of work to do. Now, when I am focused on my career, I try to use my social media to post about tennis, sports in general or healthy lifestyle. There are many comments from my fans that this type of content is useful and inspiring for them. I will definitely continue this”.
