Iga Swiatek thrives by taking care of mental as well as physical strength

Predicting the future is a business best left for gamblers and fools. But here is one regardless. Shortly after 1pm on Tuesday, Iga Swiatek will hit a bullwhip forehand with such violence and beauty it will make the Centre Court crowd gasp and purr. And before too long the wider British sporting public will also grasp what the tennis world knows already: the 21-year-old Pole is a generational talent heading for multiple grand slams.

Swiatek’s movement is sublime, her power obvious. The US Davis Cup captain, Patrick McEnroe, has even compared the venom on her groundstrokes favourably with those of Serena Williams. “I haven’t seen any woman player hit with that much spin and pace,” he said recently. “Serena does it all, but Serena doesn’t play with anywhere near the sort of topspin and acceleration of the racket that this woman plays with.”

That is some praise. But the numbers back him up. According to the Women’s Tennis Association, when Swiatek won her first French Open, in 2020, she not only hit the ball harder, on average, than any other woman in the draw but her fastest forehand – 79mph – was exceeded only by Jannik Sinner on the men’s side.

Meanwhile the peak revolutions per minute of topspin on her forehand in her 2020 final against Sofia Kenin hit 3453 rpm – higher than many men in the same tournament.

But, intriguingly, there is something else that makes Swiatek stand out: the way she stresses how much psychology plays a role in her success.

Unusually she even has a renowned performance psychologist, Daria Abramowicz, with her on the circuit, working daily on her mind to make it every bit as powerful as her forehand.

When I spoke to Abramowicz recently, I asked how Swiatek copes with the scrutiny that comes from