"I wasn't that kind of person that knew I'm gonna be on top of WTA rankings" - Iga Swiatek compares past versions of herself to current confident self

Iga Swiatek opened up on her issues with self-confidence while dealing with tense situations in the past after her 2024 French Open triumph. The Pole decimated Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 6-1 in an hour and eight minutes to clinch her third consecutive Roland-Garros title.

Though Swiatek was rampant throughout her run dropping only one set, there were moments when she was on the back foot. In her second-round match against Naomi Osaka, the Pole had to save a match point to eventually seal a three-set win. In the second set of her semifinal against Coco Gauff, she turned around a 3-1 deficit, and in the final, she was broken early in the opening set by Paolini.

During the post-match press conference, Iga Swiatek was asked about a past version of hers that would have reacted differently to the aforementioned situations. The Pole responded that she wasn't sure because she was never a player who thought of becoming the World No. 1 and winning tournaments.

"Maybe, not certainly, because I wasn’t that kind of person that always knew that I'm gonna be on the top of the WTA rankings and play and win so many tournaments," Swiatek said.

The 23-year-old then said that she could remember a less confident version of herself, but it didn't matter now as she had put in a lot of effort to deal with high-pressure situations.

"So yeah, I can remember it easily, but it doesn't really matter because we all come from different places, and at the end, I made a huge work to manage things so I can turn things around in this high-pressure moments," she said.

Iga Swiatek acknowledges Naomi Osaka scare after winning French Open 2024

Iga Swiatek

During her victory speech after winning the 2024 French Open, Iga Swiatek admitted that her quest for her fourth Roland-Garros had almost ended in the second round against Naomi Osaka.

The World No. 1 thanked the fans for having her back and helping her believe that she could go all the way and admitted that it was an emotional fortnight.

"I was almost out of the tournament in the second round. So, thank you guys for staying behind my back and cheering for me. I also needed to believe that this one is going to be possible. So, it's been a really emotional tournament," Swiatek said.

Swiatek will shift her focus to the grass courts with Wimbledon looming on the horizon before returning to clay for the Olympics.