Swiatek tinkers to regain winning attitude

Defending champion Iga Swiatek has been working over the past week towards regaining her winning attitude as her French Open defence begins on Sunday.

The winner of four of the previous five editions at Roland Garros fell into a crisis of confidence with a third-round exit in Rome at the hands of Danielle Collins.

The normally dangerous Swiatek has been recently playing a shadow of the game which drove her to world No. 1 and made her all but unbeatable in recent seasons.

Her Rome defeat called for team reflection and a change in direction after leaving the court with tears of frustration.

“For sure after Rome, I had a lot of time to, like, think about how I played and what my attitude was,” the Pole said on Friday.

“I focused on changing some stuff, and also having more intensity. I feel I (was not) starting the match as well and then I got tight a little bit (against) Danielle.

“But these are things that any athlete needs to work on. I got to the point where I knew I needed to change something in my attitude and maybe get a little bit more energetic before the matches.”

Swiatek knows that a test of the theory will come in the Paris first round, when 

she begins against Slovak Rebecca Sramkova.

“I want to be more positive about what I’m doing and not focused too much on the mistake – just go for it, be more brave.

“I’m sure there are ways to control (being a perfectionist) 

“Lately, when I made mistakes on the court, I focused on them a little bit too much. I was like anchoring them and needed to realise that by myself.

“(But) I thought I (was) working on them, It’s a constant process.”

Main photo:- Iga Swaitek with trophy after she wins 2024 French Open by Roger Parker International Sports Fotos Ltd