French Open Champion Iga Swiatek Grew Up A "Fighter" In Warsaw

Iga Swiatek, the world number one who on Saturday won her second French Open title, has displayed a fighting spirit since her early days hammering balls on Warsaw's tennis courts. "She was a little kid who really wanted to learn how to play as quickly as possible, and once she did, what mattered most to her was winning," said Artur Szostaczko, her first coach. "She was a fighter... I knew that if it went to a super tiebreak, there was no need to worry -- Iga wouldn't crack under the pressure," the 51-year-old told AFP.

Szostaczko still teaches on the clay court where the Polish phenomenon first picked up a racket and tried her hand at hitting against a concrete wall during her older sister's lesson.

"Left, right, the whole time she was running about having a ball," he said by the wall covered in colourful graffiti at the Warszawianka tennis club.

"Normally a small child has trouble hitting even one or two balls but she could keep it going for dozens of shots," added the coach, who like Swiatek, always has a baseball cap on his head.

Szostaczko taught the talented sisters -- whose father Tomasz is an Olympic rower -- for five years, until Swiatek was 10 years old.

Fast forward a decade and Swiatek is at the top of women's tennis, now with a second Roland Garros title under her belt after Saturday's 6-1, 6-3 win over Coco Gauff.

She is also on a winning streak of 35 matches, equalling Venus Williams' record for the longest women's run since 2000.

Szostaczko said he is proud of his former student, whom he remembers as a fun child in pigtails running around with phenomenal coordination and a smile on her face.

"I taught her to play aggressive, because that's the future of tennis, and today she's doing an incredible job of it