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Iga Swiatek did not lose a game in the Internazionali BNL d'Italia final. But that doesn't tell the story of her winning week in Rome.

By Courtney Nguyen - WTA Insider

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Photo by WTA/Jimmie48


Iga Swiatek is learning how to win ugly. That's bad news for the rest of the tour.


The Polish teenager captured her third career title and second of the season on Sunday with a 46-minute masterclass to defeat No.9 Karolina Pliskova 6-0, 6-0 to win the Internzionali BNL d'Italia. Swiatek's title run saw her notch wins over Alison Riske, Madison Keys, save match points against Dubai finalist Barbora Krejcikova, and then dominate No.5 Elina Svitolina, a red-hot Coco Gauff, and Pliskova in the final.

Swiatek now holds two of the three biggest clay-court titles on tour and is set to make her Top 10 debut on Monday, a reflection of not just her talent but her consistency since winning Roland Garros last fall. Since that magical fortnight in Paris, Swiatek has played seven tournaments. She has won two of them (Adelaide, Rome) and advanced to the Round of 16 or better in all but one.

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Swiatek spoke with WTA Insider to break down her dramatic week in Rome, where she became the third player this season to come from match points down to win a title.

The other two players? No.1 Ashleigh Barty in Miami and No.2 Naomi Osaka at the Australian Open. That's pretty good company.


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Swiatek dominates Pliskova in Rome final, wins 2nd title of year: Highlights
2021 Rome
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WTA Insider: Let's start from the beginning. You said in your press conference that at the start of the week, you didn't think this result was going to happen.
Swiatek: Yeah, that's true. It was pretty dramatic. I feel like everything happened this week. I feel like even though I won the title and I have the trophy, the most important thing for me is that I gained so much experience and I learned so much stuff that it's going to have an effect in the future. So I'm really happy about that.

WTA Insider: What are the lessons you learned this week?
Swiatek: I kind of learned the same thing as usual, but I keep coming back to the attitude that is not always the best for playing tennis. But I learned as always that the key is to keep your expectations low.


I learned that I can be a consistent player and I can win matches when I'm not feeling the best. Because the first three rounds were really tricky for me and I felt better and better every day. But still, I thought it's not enough to win a tournament. And then suddenly everything changed.

I also learned that when you have situations that you don't have influence on, like playing a quarterfinal and semifinal the same day, you just have to focus on the positive aspects of it. Because I was pretty frustrated at the beginning that I had this situation, but then I realized that it really helped me because I don't know how would I play if I didn't have this one-day break. I think it gave me a lot, actually, on my match with Elina Svitolina. I could actually be in the rhythm and be on court for a longer time and it gave me a lot of confidence for today.

So looking at the positive side of stuff is really important.


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Watch This: Swiatek tweener stuns Gauff in Rome
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WTA Insider: Ash Barty said that in her run to the 2019 Roland Garros title, there were so many weather delays and scheduling issues, that it actually allowed her to just focus on her tennis. Do you relate to that?
Swiatek: Yeah, for sure. Because at the end, you just get to focus on the work.

Here it was frustrating because only me and Elina had a situation like that, that our match was postponed for the other day. When the order of play changes or something, both of the players have the same situation. But here, at the beginning my first reaction was, hey, that's a little bit unfair.

But I just kept being OK with that, actually. And when I just focused on playing and I realized that it can actually help me, it's changed my attitude completely.

"That's why I always say, when someone asks me what would I say to younger players, I say, hey, you should have good support around you because even though it's an individual sport you're not going to do it on your own."

WTA Insider: You've been very open in discussing the stress and pressure of becoming an overnight sensation after winning Roland Garros last year. You were concerned whether you could play at a top level consistently. Now, five months on, you have proven that you can be consistent. Do you think that because you've been so open about it, you've been able to handle it better?
Swiatek: It's a tricky thing because even though I'm talking about it, still, I have trouble myself to accept many things. But for sure, working with a psychologist and having that kind of support on every tournament helped me a lot because people tend to lose the proper perspective. I'm looking at things through my emotions a lot of times. So it's good to have someone that's going to keep you on Earth and someone you trust that can always tell the truth.

So I'm really happy that I have big support around me. I'm not only talking about Daria [Abramowicz], but also my coach Piotr [Sierzputowski], and my physio and physical coach Maciej [Ryszczuk]. They're great and they've been with me through a lot of weird times.

Read: How Piotr Sierzputowski steers Swiatek to success

That's why I always say, when someone asks me what would I say to younger players, I say, hey, you should have good support around you because even though it's an individual sport you're not going to do it on your own.

WTA Insider: What were the tough moments since Roland Garros?
Swiatek: It's hard to choose just a few moments.

For sure, learning how to deal with the business side of tennis was hard because you have more obligations and more stuff to worry about. And you don't know if it's going to influence your game or not. For sure it does influence, but you have to learn how to deal with all this stuff. It's hard to find the balance at the beginning between working and doing other things. So that's also the kind of thing that my team helped me a lot with.

I think dealing with expectations at the beginning. I remember my first match in Australia at the tournament before the Australian Open, it was really, really hard. I was thinking in the back of my mind that, hey, there are so many people that trusted in me, I [have to] play well. That really destroyed me for a few days and also during my match. So that was pretty hard.

Read: Swiatek talks psychology, pressure, and legacy with Mikaela Shiffrin

There are some dramas, really, every few weeks, because there are many things that I've done for the first time since French Open. As soon as I am going to get some balance and find my rhythm in this new world, it's going to be much, much easier. And I just kind of accepted that right now it's going to be tough, but then in a few years, it's just going to be a routine for me.

"When I was younger - and still even one year ago - when I was playing bad, immediately in my mind I had this scenario, hey, you can't win when you're playing bad."

WTA Insider: It looked like through the first three rounds in Rome, you seemed like you were trying to figure out how to win ugly. Is that what it felt like for the first few matches for you?
Swiatek: Yeah, it wasn't easy. And winning ugly is a good phrase to describe it.

Because when I was younger - and still even one year ago - when I was playing bad, immediately in my mind I had this scenario, hey, you can't win when you're playing bad. But right now, when my level of game's a little bit better, even when I'm feeling bad, I know that I can win against players.

I'm just aware that I can play a few matches not perfectly, and then it's going to be better and better. Last year it was hard because when my game wasn't there, I just wasn't that good to win the first rounds. Right now, I have time to actually develop during the tournament, and that's much, much better.

But it's some kind of thing that everybody has to learn and I think I did that pretty quickly. So I'm glad. Still, it's always not easy and you always are frustrated that, hey, you put so much work in practicing and you are playing so well in practice, but then you are playing a match and it's worse.

Tennis is kind of frustrating sometimes. You just have to accept it and keep going. That's what I did this week. And that's why this tournament is so special for me.


WTA Insider: You now have two weeks until Roland Garros. Are you disappointed there's an extra week before Roland Garros? Or are you happy there are two weeks until you begin your title defense?
Swiatek: I think it's a good thing because always we try to have some few days off before a Grand Slam to rest. So I think that situation is perfect for me. Also I have some obligations to do at home, so we're going to rest a little bit here. Then we're going to come back home. I'm sure in Poland everything is is kind of crazy after my tournament here. We're going to just come back to work and we don't have actually time to chill.

But I think that the French Open being postponed, it really gave me a lot because I can rest mentally and physically. Because even though that last match here was pretty quick and this tournament is actually really quick, I feel like I'm really mentally tired because of these first three matches and then adjusting to all of the scheduling. So I'm glad that we're going to have a few days off.

WTA Insider: You didn't do a very good job of diffusing the pressure and expectations that will be on you in Paris, but that's a very good looking trophy next to you.
Swiatek: It's good to have problems like that, you know? I wouldn't change it.

The weight of defending a Grand Slam championship can be overwhelming, but for Iga Swiatek, she's working hard to take the pressure off herself.

By Greg Garber

Iga Swiatek turns 20 on the second day of the upcoming French Open, and already she is a student of the game’s history.

Unseeded, she sliced through the field at Roland Garros last fall like a sharp scythe through a defenseless field of wheat. And then the enormity of her first Grand Slam singles title began to filter through to her brain. The demands on her time increased dramatically, and so did the expectations, both internally and externally.

“I always try to learn from what other girls experienced,” Swiatek recently said in Rome. “And there are many players that have some kind of regression after winning their first Grand Slam, so I always thought that, `Hey, try to be different. Just work and just focus on not doing the same mistakes.'"

Venus and Serena Williams, along with Simona Halep, Garbine Muguruza, Angelique Kerber, Victoria Azarenka, Petra Kvitova and Svetlana Kuznetsova, are the current players who have won two or more majors. Others, such as Ashleigh Barty, Bianca Andreescu and Sofia Kenin, have plenty of time to double up on their Slam totals. Swiatek could be just a few week away from adding her second as well.

Earlier this month, in Rome’s Round of 16, Swiatek scuffled to save match points against Barbora Krejcikova. In the second round, she had trailed Madison Keys 3-5 in the first set and ran off nine straight games. In the early going, the Swiatek admitted later, she had no thoughts of winning the title. And then her quarterfinal against world No.5 Elina Svitolina was rained out, meaning the winner would have to play two matches in a single day.

After beating both Svitolina and rising star Coco Gauff to reach the final, Swiatek shared her thoughts in typically forthright fashion.

“I was kind of searching for my game, still, even though it was a quarterfinal,” she said. “It’s a big difference between my previous matches and today. My game is here and I’m ready for everyone.”

After defeating Top 10 players in back-to-back matches, she was asked if she was surprising herself.

“Umm,” said Swiatek, considering the question carefully. “I am like surprising myself actually when I’m not doing well. Because I’m pretty ambitious and I am a perfectionist, which I am fighting with sometimes.”

That Sunday against Karolina Pliskova in Rome, she came pretty close to perfect.

Swiatek won 24 of 28 points in the first set, a 6-0 frame that was over in 19 minutes. The final was 6-0, 6-0 in 46 minutes and propelled Swiatek into the Top 10 for the first time. She became only the fourth teenager to win a WTA 1000 event, following Victoria Azarenka (2009 Miami), Belinda Bencic (2015 Toronto) and Andreescu (2019 Indian Wells and Toronto).

“Everything was like super-deep, close to the lines,” Pliskova said afterward. “Overall, I really think she didn’t miss anything today. I think she was maybe having a moment of her life.”

Said Swiatek: “From the beginning, she made me a little bit nervous. I wanted to play as many games with that vibe. On the breaks, I was visualizing that I’m starting that match from the beginning every time.

“And actually I was doing that so well that I didn’t realize it was 6-0 in the first set. So that was kind of funny because I asked my coach what was the score after the match.”

Managing emotion – and expectations

Tracy Austin, a two-time Grand Slam champion, calls the matches at the Rogers Cup every year in Canada. Two years ago in Toronto, she watched an 18-year-old Swiatek qualify and sail into the Round of 16 with a win over Caroline Wozniacki.

“Oh, my gosh,” Austin said from her California home. “I had a wonderful time calling match after match of Iga’s. I love everything about her game. Just saw the growth and her physicality. She was sliding on hardcourts, she gets so much rate of shot. Her groundstrokes are so heavy, the ball bounces up off the court.

“I like the way she competed and managed her emotions on the court. I knew then that it was just a matter of time. There’s just too much talent, too much shot selection for her not to come through in a big way. It wasn’t a matter of if, but when.”

A little more than a year later, that final triumph in Paris over Kenin was Swiatek’s last match in 2020. Which was probably a good thing. She had more than three months to process her achievement and arrived in Australia in a good place. She reached the Australian Open Round of 16, but fell to Halep – whom she upset in the same round at Paris. The subsequent field in Adelaide wasn’t as daunting, but Swiatek dismissed No.12 Bencic in straight sets to win the second WTA title of her brief career. Dubai and Miami produced a disappointing 2-2 record before she and her team took two weeks off to prepare for the clay-court season.

When she returned, in late April at the Mutua Madrid Open, Swiatek saw some improvement.

Wins over Alison Riske and Laura Siegemund placed her in the path of world No.1 Barty. In a meeting of the two most recent French Open champions, Barty prevailed 7-5, 6-4 in the Round of 16.

Before Rome, ESPN analyst Pam Shriver had some questions.

“She’s entering the stage right now of how is she living with that rarefied air?” Shriver said. “It’s something so many players have struggled with. There’s a lot to be determined on Swiatek.

“I know the way she won that major was so impressive. But what’s she going to be like when she has to defend her title?”

Avoiding overanalysis

Swiatek was down 3-6, 0-2 to Krejcikova in Rome – and that was even before she faced those two match points.

“Usually in this situation I was the kind of a person that was kind of giving up mentally,” Swiatek said later. “So today, even though I wasn’t feeling perfect on court, I could manage with everything and win points.

“Tough day mentally. It was hard for me to be positive. So I kind of stopped thinking.”

Daria Abramowicz, Swiatek’s sports psychologist for two years now, probably smiled when she heard that. The irony – that sometimes the key to mental success for Swiatek is to stop thinking – could not have escaped her.

“Not overanalyzing everything is a key,” Swiatek said. “I was just focusing on keeping my legs low, which is basic stuff in tennis. But actually it worked.

“Sometimes you have to keep your mind busy and do the easiest stuff.”

For a teenager, Swiatek is extraordinarily self-aware and has assembled a formidable support group around her. Everybody at the WTA level can hit forehands and backhands, she says, but mental strength is what separates champions from finalists.

Abramowicz has helped her make that distinction.

“I was always open to working with psychologists because I thought it was a part of the game that I want to improve on,” Swiatek said after winning in Rome. “We have a lot of things, like mental training stuff. Things we are trying to implement in practice and matches. Daria is doing a great job. I feel like I can trust her completely.”

And, at the end of the day, Swiatek has learned that she can trust herself.

Table for two?

So who might join the multi-Slam winners in Paris?

Can Swiatek, Barty, Andreescu, Kenin, Jelena Ostapenko or Sloane Stephens change the trajectory of their career in a single fortnight?

While many prognosticators like the chances of the past two champions at Roland Garros – Barty and Swiatek – the Aussie could come in compromised. She was wearing a compression sleeve on her right arm and a wrap on her left thigh when she retired to Gauff in the Rome quarterfinals. Andreescu has struggled with injuries and Covid-19 travel complications. Swiatek and Madrid champion Aryna Sabalenka come in the best combination of health and momentum.

Would anything less than a title defense be a disappointment?

“No. For sure, not,” Swiatek said in Rome. “Look at my results in Grand Slams, mostly I am doing fourth rounds. This is also a good result, as you know, Top 16. So, I don’t have expectations like that.

“It’s not easy to be a defending champion, so I’m just happy in a situation like that and I can enjoy being there, and just being in Paris because I love playing there. So I’m not worrying about that.”

Austin believes it’s an exciting time for women’s tennis.

“For most of our history it’s been all about consistent winners – they’re winning their eighth or tenth Grand Slam,” she said. “Now players are coming through and more players are winning majors. It’s unpredictable.”

For Swiatek, nearly every interview over the past seventh months has included a question about Roland Garros.

“I wasn’t thinking about it a lot because, really, I don’t know what’s going to happen,” she said. “I’ve never been in a situation like that. I’m just trying to remind myself that many players, as Sofia [Kenin] said, are struggling with that [nerves in defending first Slam]. So maybe it will be the best option to give myself.

“Be there and see how it is. Play your game.”

Swiatek has discovered that giving in doesn’t mean giving up.

“A perfectionist would always say, ‘I’m not playing perfect, so it’s bad,’” she said. “But it’s not like that. I’m still learning how to win ugly, sometimes perform good even though I’m not feeling perfect.

“I want to learn how to do that. I also think it comes with age and experience. I still need some time.”