Iga Swiatek noticed her hopes of a US Open title protection dashed final yr when she fell within the fourth spherical at Flushing Meadows however now says she feels freed from the strain that helped gasoline that letdown.
Swiatek, the match’s 2022 champion, was upset by Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko final yr and because of this misplaced her world No. 1 rating to big-hitting Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka.
However the irrepressible participant from Poland regrouped to win the season-ending WTA Finals to wrest again the highest rating, which she has held onto ever since.
“Final yr I felt I had many issues to defend, just like the world No. 1 place, all my factors and in addition the title itself,” Swiatek instructed reporters in New York on Friday. “I felt like I had loads of baggage on my shoulders. This yr it is slightly bit completely different. This yr I am simply attempting to deal with what ought to I do tennis-wise to play the perfect recreation doable.
“My expectations usually are not as excessive in comparison with final yr. I will attempt to deal with getting every thing step-by-step.”
Regardless of profitable 5 titles, together with her fourth French Open crown, this yr, the 23-year-old admitted she is coming off a tough patch together with a disappointing bronze on the Paris Video games and a complete loss to Sabalenka in Cincinnati on Sunday.
“It has been a very intense season, and after the Olympics, it hasn’t been straightforward,” she mentioned. “I really feel the perfect after I’m simply targeted on training and grinding on the court docket and actually targeted on simply making my recreation higher and never on the outcomes. I am simply going to attempt to maintain that mindset and that angle.”
A five-time Grand Slam champion and the match’s high seed, Swiatek will start her US Open marketing campaign Tuesday in opposition to a qualifier. Her path features a potential quarterfinal conflict in opposition to American world No. 6 Jessica Pegula.