Swiatek glad for high expectations ahead of Madrid title defence
MNP – Iga Swiatek says she has grown accustomed to the high pressure of expectations she shoulders each clay-court season and that she is “grateful” for the public’s “high hopes” for her.
The world number two is the most successful clay-court player of her generation and has won the French Open four times.
By her stratospheric standards, Swiatek is having a sub-par season but she has the chance to turn her year around at the Madrid Open, where she is defending her title this fortnight.
“It’s crazy, but people are not aware when they think about other people that we’re also human. The expectations for sure are high, but they’re high every year for me since 2022,” Swiatek said on Wednesday at the Caja Magica.
“I’m just trying to keep my job and not really focus on what people say. Honestly, they have no idea what’s going on in any of our lives, so if they think some things, they can just think, but it’s not necessarily the truth.
“But for sure I’m grateful that they have high hopes.”
The 23-year-old Pole kicked off her clay season with a quarter-final appearance in Stuttgart last week, where she lost to eventual champion Jelena Ostapenko for the sixth time in six meetings with the Latvian.
