Third Roland Garros win sets Iga Swiatek on the path to greatness

I n the days leading up to the 2020 French Open, Iga Swiatek was struggling through one of the biggest crises of her career. Having started the Covid-delayed autumn clay court season with lofty hopes in her first year since graduating high school, expectations were high. But in her final warm-up event, the Italian Open, Swiatek endured a desperate, “traumatic” defeat against Arantxa Rus, the No 71, in the first round.

Swiatek retreated back to Poland with her small team, where they held talks about her direction and progress. Doubt festered in her mind. When she arrived at Roland Garros, the then 18-year-old struggled through practices, unable to escape her negative spiral. Her mood was so low that she made a bet with her sports psychologist, Daria Abramowicz, to see if she could just get through one training session without any drama. Swiatek spent the days before the tournament questioning her future.

“I remember just being on the Jean Bouin [Roland Garros practice courts] before the tournament, practising there,” Swiatek said last month. “I literally had the talk with Daria if it makes sense to continue everything because I felt so bad. I felt like, I don’t know, my expectations were just pretty high. I felt really bad on court. Always tense and stressed, even when I was practising.”

Two weeks later, Swiatek won the French Open at 19 years old and ranked No 54. It was both her first grand slam title and her first tour level title overall, which she clinched by demolishing the field, losing just 28 games in seven matches and not even coming close to conceding a set.

As joyful as her first grand slam title was, Swiatek also struggled to wrap her mind around her transformation. It had also taken place in the early days