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Iga Swiatek recently stated that her long injury layoff in 2017 almost put an end to her career. The Pole had serious thoughts about not playing tennis anymore at that point.
Following a strong first half in 2017, Swiatek suffered an ankle injury in June that forced her to stop playing for the next eight months. She had to practically start all over again.
However, the Pole stunned everyone on her return, reaching the semifinals of the 2018 French Open juniors. It has been steady growth for the World No. 1 on the tour ever since.
During a press conference at the Italian Open, Swiatek reflected on her difficult period in 2017.
"Well, at that point of my life, basically the problem was that I thought I'm not going to, like, play tennis anymore, because I was a teenager and it was a big thing already after surgery," she said.
Swiatek also stated that initially she was cynical about putting time into tennis given the injury setbacks and financial difficulties. Things changed, however, after she started to win matches on the tour.
"It's not like I always knew that I'm going to be a tennis player," Swiatek continued. "I feel like every year I needed to kind of prove myself that I'm going in the right direction. I still didn't believe that I'm going to be a pro until I actually came to WTA and won some matches."
"Also there was, like, the issue of if we're going to have money to continue, start like a little bit from the beginning, because this is something that suddenly may change your life path," she added.
"I'm pretty happy that we managed to make a comeback" - Iga Swiatek
Iga Swiatek went on to express delight at having found her way through such an arduous obstacle early in her career. She credited her father Tomasz Swiatek for finding the right resources for her to improve as a tennis professional.
"I'm pretty happy that we managed, me and my dad, to make me come back," the Pole reflected. "He also found resources for me to be able to train and have practices and find coaches."
Iga Swiatek has gotten past such setbacks to get to her position at the top of women's singles tennis. She has been ranked No. 1 on the WTA tour since April 2022.
Swiatek will next be in action at the 2023 Italian Open, where her opening-round opponent is yet to be decided.
