'I feel great and that's weird' - Iga Swiatek opens up on feeling 'even more fresh' ahead of San Diego Open
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Updated 12/10/2022 at 17:41 GMT
Iga Swiatek admitted she was expecting to feel devoid of motivation after playing - and winning - so many matches in 2022, but the world No. 1 says the opposite has been true. Swiatek lost a marathon Ostrava Open final to Barbora Krejcikova last weekend, but she has made the trip across the Atlantic to compete in San Diego, where she will face Qinwen Zheng in the first round.
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Iga Swiatek says she has been surprised by how motivated she is feeling despite having played - and won - so many matches in 2022.
World No. 1 Swiatek's win-loss record this year reads a remarkable 60-9, and it's not just the volume of matches she has won, but the significance of them - taking two majors at the French and US Opens, and securing five other titles besides.
With her 2021 season comprising 51 matches, it's a huge increase in her workload, but having had over a month off after winning in New York she is hungry to end the campaign on a high and will compete at the San Diego Open this week.
The 21-year-old Pole said: “Honestly, I feel great and that’s weird because I thought after so many matches I was going to feel a lack of motivation. Or I thought that if you’re winning too much you’re not going to have another goal to reach.
“But honestly, it’s the opposite. I’m even more fresh because winning keeps me really positive. I don’t waste my energy and time coming back to this positive mindset.
"I feel like I can be in the rhythm and do my job on court and play. I feel really good.”
Swiatek didn't seem too distraught at losing to Barbora Krejcikova in the Ostrava Open final over 3h16, deeming it a building block on her route to the WTA Tour Finals, which take place in Fort Worth, Texas between October 31 and November 7.
“Even though I played two really long matches there [in Austria] I feel pretty fine physically," Swiatek said.
“The thing is that right now I feel more fresh because I had more time off after the US Open.
“So going into Ostrava I knew I could give everything and go all in. It’s not that bad. It’s the ‘nice’ jet lag, coming this way [to the US].
“It makes sense [to play in San Diego] because I just have to have more matches before the WTA Finals.
“It would be pretty bad if I would have three weeks without matches because I would be a little bit not in the rhythm.
“So it makes sense to be here for sure. I really wanted to play because of the city and I heard so many positive things about the tournament that I wanted to come.”
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