World No. 1 Iga Swiatek admitted that she faced a lot of pressure at the start of the year, which was not easy for her to handle. The 21-year-old came on the back of a brilliant 2022 season, which saw her win two Grand Slams and register a 37-match winning streak — the longest unbeaten run of the 21st century on the WTA Tour.Speaking at her pre-tournament press conference at the 2023 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, the defending champion was asked about her season so far, which has lived up to the ridiculous standards Swiatek has set for herself.
Following a fourth-round exit at the Australian Open (loss to Elena Rybakina), the World No. 1 won the title at the Qatar Open and finished as the runner-up at the Dubai Tennis Championships (loss to Barbora Krejcikova). She then made the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells (loss to Rybakina) before pulling out of the Miami Open due to injury.
All three of her losses so far have come in straight sets, leading one journalist to ask the Pole if she has been panicking a little too fast this season. Iga Swiatek, understandably, answered in the negative, remarking that she only lost because her opponents had been “pretty solid” in the clash.
“Well, no, I wouldn’t say so. You know, I have been talking about, you know, what happened in Australia, all the pressure that I faced. So for sure it wasn’t easy back there,” Iga Swiatek said.
