Swiatek continues to impress with Rome title: "I feel like I'm playing excellent tennis".

© AFP

Elio Valotto

le 19/05/2024 à 13h51

2 min to read

Madrid Rome Sabalenka Swiatek

Iga Swiatek is the undisputed queen of women's tennis. A solid world No. 1, she claimed a new title in Rome on Saturday, the 10th WTA 1000 title of her young career. Up against Aryna Sabalenka, the Pole pulled out all the stops. Having struggled to overcome the Belarusian in Madrid (7-5, 4-6, 7-6, saving several match points), this time she had no trouble in mastering her runner-up in the world rankings.

Questioned at the press conference, Swiatek made no secret of her delight: "I played well and solidly. I took my chances. Of course, this match was a bit different from the one in Madrid. I felt like I was putting a lot of pressure on myself throughout the match.

In addition to her level of tennis, it's also the Pole's realism that catches the eye. Indeed, she seems capable of playing even better on the important points. In the final, she was faced with 7 break points, all of which she simply brushed aside. Asked about this rare efficiency, the world No. 1 confessed herself satisfied with her quality of serve: "I try to treat these points like any other point. I don't feel under pressure. Maybe it's also because I know that I'm very good at restarting, and that even if I lose my serve, I can get away with it afterwards. I think my serve really helped me in this tournament. All the work we've been doing has paid off in the important moments."

The 22-year-old, who is the best female tennis player in her country's history (the only Polish tennis player to have reached world number one in both men's and women's tennis), also looked back on the French Open. Having already won the title three times in Paris, Swiatek knows she's the favourite, but was keen to calm things down: "I'm number 1, so I'm the favourite everywhere if you look at the rankings. But the rankings don't count, so... Obviously, I'm confident. I feel I'm playing excellent tennis. But that doesn't change the fact that I really want to stay humble and concentrate on taking it one step at a time. Grand Slam tournaments are different. The pressure isn't the same on and off the court."