Swiatek stresses importance of sport psychologist

Going into Roland Garros, Iga Swiatek was not on anyone's radar. The 19-year-old had lost in the first round of "Cincy", the third round of the US Open and the first round of Rome.

The potential was there, as eventual US Open finalist Victoria Azarenka plainly saw.

By the time Swiatek got to Paris, she had a renewed mindset. After dismissing last year's finalist Marketa Vondrousova in her opener, Swiatek explained what had changed across the previous six weeks starting at the Western & Southern Open with her loss to Christina McHale.

"It was really hard for me to comeback from this COVID break," the world No. 54 said. "I felt a lot of pressure and I was really stressed when I played in New York... I felt that when many players from the top are not going to be there, maybe there's an opportunity for me, so that was kind of stressful for me.

"But that was the first time I had such high expectations in my career so it wasn't easy, and I feel like next time it's going to be better because right now I have more experience."

The US Open was missing a lot more of the big names than Roland Garros, and yet Swiatek has cruised through the draw without the loss of a set. She even ousted top seed Simona Halep in dominant fashion, 6-1, 6-2. She's the first Pole in the Open era to reach the Roland Garros final, and first Pole to reach a major final since Agnieszka Radwanska appeared in the 2012 Wimbledon final.

In between the New York swing and Rome, Swiatek spent time training at home in Poland with her coach Piotr Sierzputowski and sport psychologist Daria Abramowicz.

Abramowicz even travels with her team to the bigger events.

"I'm really happy that she chose me to travel with because she has many other players," Swiatek said. "She was also traveling with them, like with sailors or cyclists. So right now she's focusing to me, and I'm really happy because she's doing a great job."

Abramowicz is a 33-year-old former competitive sailer and coach that has worked with Swiatek for two years.

"I just, I don't know, she just made me like smarter," Swiatek said. "I know more about sports and I know more about psychology and I can understand my own feelings and I can say them out loud."

Swiatek clearly takes her mental training as seriously as her time spent in the gym and on the court.

"I just believe that mental toughness is like probably most important thing in tennis right now because everybody can play on the highest level," Swiatek said. "But the ones that are tough and that can handle the pressure are the biggest ones."

That's a pretty mature statement from a teenager. She'll compete for her maiden Grand Slam title on Saturday against the winner of Petra Kvitova and Sofia Kenin.

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