With humility, discretion and shyness, Iga Swiatek marks the history of tennis a little more each year, crowned on Saturday with a fourth title at Roland-Garros, the third in a row, and advances like a steamroller driven by a combative character which has carried her since her first strikes on the tennis courts of Warsaw.
Everything has changed since her arrival at the highest level on tiptoe, in 2020, when she won, to everyone’s surprise, her first Grand Slam tournament in the virtual anonymity of a sad autumn Roland-Garros under Covid .
Four years later, it was as a huge favorite that she beat the Italian Jasmine Paolini in the final (6-2, 6-1). At 23, the Pole continues to widen the gap as world No.1, well ahead of her pursuers Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka.
Everything has changed, but not Swiatek, who still shows great discretion. She who on the field transforms into a machine, distributing bagels (sets won 6-0) to her opponents with all her might like during this express round of 16 against the Russian Anastasia Potapova (6-0, 6-0 in 40 minutes).
World number one Iga Swiatek serving Saturday in the Roland-Garros final against Italian Jasmine Paolini. (AFP – ALAIN JOCARD)
Before getting there, she did her apprenticeship in Warsaw, where she was born on May 31, 2001. “She was a little girl who wanted to learn to play as quickly as possible. And when she learned, what mattered the most important thing for her was to win,” recalls her first coach, Artur Szostaczko.
“She was a fighter… I knew that if a set went to the tie-break, there was no need to worry, she was not going to break down,” the coach tells AFP.
From now on, the player is at the top of women’s tennis, with five Grand Slam titles to her name (Roland-Garros 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024, US Open 2022), 21 titles in total on the circuit.
– Smile and aggression –
Artur Szostaczko keeps in mind the image of this fun child, always in pigtails, always on the move, with phenomenal coordination and an eternal smile on her face. “I taught her to play aggressively because that is the future of tennis. Today she does it in a fantastic way,” he emphasizes.
Iga Swiatek explodes with joy after her match point against the Italian Jasmine Paolini in the final of the Roland-Garros tournament on Saturday June 8, 2024. (AFP – ALAIN JOCARD)
Her next coach, Michal Kaznowski, who followed her until she was 15, was inspired by the phrase that became famous by Serena Williams when she was 11, and who, when asked to who she wanted to be like, replied: “I wish others were like me.”
“We followed this idea…to develop its own style, its own personality,” Kaznowski says.
The coach and his player turned to men’s tennis to find role models – Iga Swiatek is an absolute fan of Rafael Nadal -, avoiding looking for one among the players, for fear that Iga would one day find himself facing one of them.
And when we ask her this season what it feels like to be compared to Nadal – 14 times winner in Paris – by the press, she always responds with humility: “We will see in 14 years if the course is the same”.
– From high school student to champion –
In 2019 in Australia, she played her first Grand Slam tournament, reaching the 2nd round. A few months later, she only lasted 45 minutes in the round of 16 against Simona Halep for her first Roland-Garros.
The planets began to align in 2020: a round of 16 in Melbourne, a third round at the US Open and therefore this title at the French Open – his very first on the main circuit – with prestigious victories (Osaka, Halep, Wozniacki, Vekic). Enough to propel her into the top 20 in the world.
Iga Swiatek during her victorious final against Jasmine Paolini at Roland-Garros on Saturday. (AFP – Bertrand GUAY)
Still a high school student in 2019, she had also graduated that year. From now on, it is on the clay court of Roland-Garros that she collects, not the good marks, but the titles.
And on the courts, the Pole, who is now coached by Tomasz Wiktorowski, who arrived at the end of 2021, remains studious, notably with a psychologist who helps her prepare for her matches. “She made me smarter. Thanks to her, my confidence level is higher,” she said in 2020.
“Mental strength is particularly important. At the high level, everyone is capable of playing well, but the best are those who are strongest in the head,” said Sierzputowski, his coach from 2016 to 2021, described as a “competition beast”.
2024-06-08 14:42:54
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