In 2020 the ascent began
In fact, the young Pole has had a meteoric rise that only began in 2020. Until then, Swiatek was only a tennisinsiders famous. But that was to change impressively: At just 19 years old and 54th in the world rankings, she stormed to the title in the French Open and secured her first Grand Slam-Success.
Swiatek is anything but a flash in the pan, who suddenly appears like other players and then hardly appears in the sporting limelight – such as Jelena Ostapenko, who was an unseeded player in 2017 French Open was able to win and then only swam in the large pool of professionals.
Swiatek has impressively demonstrated with her tournament victories these days that she will probably still play an important role in the WTAtour will play.
Intense mental support
Of course, in addition to a great tennis talent, Swiatek also has at least as much willingness to work. After all, nobody has made it to the top of the world rankings without these attributes. But in addition to the obligatory batting training, Swiatek relies above all on mental help, which seems to give her an additional kick.
The former Polish top sailor and current psychologist Daria Abramowicz, who after her career has specialized in supporting top athletes, has been with Swiatek since 2019. And her tasks go beyond sporting matters. For example, the cooperation with Swiatek is also about the player’s private affairs.
Abramowicz talks to her about her fears and dreams, about her relationships with other people. “The human anchor” as Abramowicz calls it. She supports Swiatek’s human maturation process without losing focus on the sport. “It’s impossible one champion to become when one does not have basic joy and one’s needs as a human being are not being met and satisfied”said Abramowicz recently “New York Times”.
Math instead of stress on the pitch
That is why the psychologist actively intervenes in the sport. During training sessions, she has Swiatek wear a medical device to recognize when her stress level is particularly high. Then Abramowicz tries to find solutions to mitigate the greatest pressure situations.
Both Australian Open In 2020, Abramowicz noticed that Swiatek was much more relaxed in her matches if she previously worked on homework for school – preferably in mathematics. She has now finished school, so instead of doing homework, Swiatek now takes care of sudokus and crossword puzzles as a warm-up program and stress-reducing measure.
“I’ve won against some of the greatest players. It can be really confusing at times”, said Swiatek recently. In the meantime, however, she has matured into a great player herself, with the potential to play a decisive role in shaping women’s tennis in the years to come. “We prepared for success”says Abramowicz.