"It's not easy to win a Grand Slam" - Iga Swiatek prioritizes time off ahead of navigating 'pressure' of potentially winning fourth French Open title

Iga Swiatek spoke about her chances at clinching a fourth title at the French Open after her triumph at the 2024 Italian Open. The Pole defeated Aryna Sabalenka in the finals to win in Rome for the third time in her career.

Swiatek has been in sublime form at this season's European clay court swing reaching the semifinals in Stuttgart and winning in Madrid. She then entered the Italian Open where she was the top seed.

The 22-year-old went on a rampage from the get-go and won the title without dropping a single set. She defeated the likes of Angelique Kerber, Madison Keys, and Coco Gauff before beating Sabalenka 6-2, 6-3 in the summit clash in an hour and 29 minutes.

When asked how she felt about her chances of getting a fourth title at the French Open this year, Swiatek said that she was going step by step and acknowledged the difficulty of winning a Major talking about how the level of intensity and pressure were levels above.

“Oh umm… I'm gonna repeat myself, I'm going to be boring. You know, you have to do everything step by step. Of course, there are seven matches there, so it's not easy to win a Grand Slam. The pressure is different, and the intensity of this tournament, overall of the court as well," the Pole said in her post-match press conference.

The World No. 1 then said that she currently wanted to enjoy her time off and needed to "recharge her batteries" before heading to Paris.

“So I'll just, you know, really enjoy my time off right now because it's been a long time since I had a week off. So I'll do that and not think about next goals and for sure when I'm going to be coming to Paris, I'll start thinking about it slowly, but you need to really charge your batteries first.”

"Recovery is important and necessary before a Grand Slam" - Iga Swiatek talks about her schedule heading into the 2024 French Open

Iga Swiatek

During her post-match press conference, Iga Swiatek was asked what her plans were ahead of the French Open. The Pole talked about the importance of recovery prior to Majors and said that she would spend some time with her friends before flying to Paris where she had other commitments to attend to.

"For sure, recovery is important and necessary before a Grand Slam. Yeah, I'll not travel tomorrow because I have also my friends here, so I want to stay here a bit longer. Then we'll go to Paris. I have also some appointments there to do. It's not like I'm going to have full time off."

The Pole also said that she will begin her practice in the middle of the next week.

"I guess we'll start practicing in the middle of next week."

Iga Swiatek is the two-time defending champion at the French Open and will be the top seed at the tournament.