Iga Swiatek not planning to cut down schedule yet ahead of Indian Wells - 'I don’t want to miss any opportunities'
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Published 08/03/2024 at 08:32 GMT
While some of the top players in tennis have cut down on their schedules to focus on the most prestigious tournaments, Iga Swiatek is not planning to do that at the moment. The world No. 1 says she is still at a "stage where I want to play everything" and is not going to skip events. She has also spoken about her Indian Wells draw, where she could face Danielle Collins in her opening match.
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Iga Swiatek has revealed she is not planning to cut down her tennis schedule yet to prioritise the biggest events – and aims to be in the best shape for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Several top players, including Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams, have chosen to streamline their schedules later in their careers to focus on the most prestigious tournaments.
However, those decisions have come after years of playing mostly full calendars.
World No. 1 Swiatek is just 22 and for now intends to continue “playing everything”.
"Maybe in the future it will be smarter to become this kind of player who is missing some tournaments, but really focusing on the important ones," she said at Indian Wells.
"Really scheduling your calendar in a way that you are not rushing to get points or anything. But you’re really doing it step-by-step like some of the top players - older and more experienced ones - I’m still kind of thinking about it.
"But I’m at this stage where I want to play everything. Especially the tournaments where I know I felt comfortable at.
"For sure before the Olympics it would be hard for me to decide I’m going to miss this one, just to stay fresh and have appropriate time for recovery. So we’ll see, but if it’s going to be necessary we may do that."
Swiatek made her Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020, losing in the second round to Paula Badosa.
She will be the leading contender for gold this summer with the Olympic tennis event held at Roland-Garros, where she has won the French Open three times.
"For sure I want to be ready for Olympics, it’s an important tournament, " Swiatek said.
"On the other hand you have many chances in tennis. I would love to perform well there but I’m trying not to put too much pressure on myself."
Swiatek has played four tournaments this year, the United Cup, Australian Open, Qatar Open and Dubai Open.
She is set to play the Miami Open after Indian Wells and will then move to clay, which has been her most successful surface so far in her career.
“I still feel like I can play a lot. I can handle it,” she added about her schedule.
“So I want to try and I don’t want to miss any opportunities. But I think if I’m going to get smarter it’s going to come with experience and I’ll be able to make this decisions. But for now when we talked about it, we realised I really like all these tournaments being held right now especially on clay as well. So I wouldn’t feel comfortable missing any honestly."
Swiatek is set to open her Indian Wells campaign against Danielle Collins and could then face Linda Noskova in the third round.
If she does face both players it will be a repeat of her second and third-round matches at the Australian Open.
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“It is funny that there are so many players and we didn't play many tournaments this year, but there's a possibility I'm going to face Danielle again” said Swiatek about her repeat draw.
“But on the other hand it doesn't really matter if I want to play well in this tournament, you have to win against players that are really good, and Danielle is one of them. So I'll just be ready.
“I still have couple of days, so I'm not really thinking about that yet. I'm not in that match bubble. So, so for sure, I'll prepare and I'll be ready."
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