Iga Świątek reveals Dua Lipa helped her overcome French Open setback

Polish tennis star Iga Świątek has revealed Dua Lipa helped her after she went a set down in the fourth round of the French Open. 

Świątek dropped a set for the first time in more than a month, eventually rallying herself to come back and secure a 6-7, 6-0, 6-2 victory against China’s Zheng Qinwen.

Zheng later admitted she was hampered by menstrual cramps, revealing she found the match “really tough”.

“I got really pained stomach and I try my best, but it’s just, in the second and third set, I couldn’t, I didn’t have power to scream one, ‘Come on,’ even and it was really tough,” she said.

While Zheng was struggling with cramps, Świątek used an unusual technique to focus her mind. 

“I felt like my mind is a little bit more clear,” she said. “I was kind of singing songs. 

“I realised in the first set when I was really focusing on that technical stuff, it didn’t really work because I got more and more tense when I couldn’t do that… so I was singing in my mind, basically.

“It’s not the first time. I’m always singing something, but I change the song.”

Świątek then revealed what she was singing on that particular occasion: “It was Dua Lipa, so kind of guilty pleasure.”

Swiatek: "It wasn't easy to find solutions and to find other tactics and do something differently, because I wasn't sure what I was doing wrong.”Says she stopped focusing on the technical and started…singing Dua Lipa. "That's not the 1st time. I'm always singing something." pic.twitter.com/f2KGjRg3bo

The 20-year-old remains on course to win her second French Open title. She is on a 32 match winning streak and has won five WTA titles in a row.

Next up for the Świątek is American star Jessica Pegula, who overcame Irina-Camelia Begu to reach the quarter-finals. 

Zh