Iga Swiatek 'survives crazy period' as Serena Williams emulated at French Open

 

Iga Swiatek questioned whether she could “survive” a demanding period before emulating Serena Williams.

The world No. 1 became the first woman to do the Madrid, Rome, French Open triple since Williams 11 years ago, capping off a spectacular clay season by claiming her fourth Roland Garros trophy on Saturday.

Swiatek has not been home since the clay swing started two months ago and wasn’t sure how she’d cope with the “crazy” period

The 23-year-old has been playing non-stop since Poland’s Billie Jean King Cup qualifier tie in April, where she won both of her matches on hard courts in Switzerland. She then went straight to the indoor clay in Stuttgart, crashing out in the semi-final to Elena Rybakina.

Swiatek hasn’t lost a match since, winning back-to-back-to-back titles at the Madrid Open, Italian Open and Roland Garros. It’s the first time since 2013 that a woman has lifted the trophy at all three tournaments and the feat is now arguably even harder, with the tournaments in Madrid and Rome now lasting 12 days.

After winning the French Open for the fourth time, Swiatek admitted that she didn’t know whether she’d get through her gruelling schedule. “Well, I honestly learned that I can make it,” Swiatek said when asked about her three-tournament stretch.

Because at the beginning when I, like, eight weeks ago when I went to [BJK Cup] and then I didn't, you know, come back home for all these weeks, I was, like, oh, my God. I mean, when I look at my calendar on my phone, it looks crazy, how am I going to survive that? But here I am.”

Swiatek has never won all three titles in a row. After emulating Williams’ achievement from 2013, the Pole explained how she balanced her personal and professional life. She continued: “Honestly, I think I learned that if I enjoy life off the court, and I really enjoyed being in Madrid, Rome, and here, it helps me also to be fresh on court.