Be Careful, She Bites

Iga remains in third place in the WTA rankings, but her appearance at the key tournament of every season, Roland Garros, was disappointing this time. Our tennis player was eliminated in the fourth round, losing to the sensational Marta Kostiuk, who before competing in Paris on clay had won everything there was to win.

“There was no delight, but I managed to cool down. After all, losing is an inseparable part of sport. As I get older, it takes me less time, and I’m already at the stage where I look only to the future,” Świątek does not hide in her conversation with Dawid Góra of WP SportoweFakty.

The main conclusions after the Paris tournament do not concern technical matters, but rather self-awareness in sport. Roland Garros taught Iga, as she says, patience and acceptance of the process. The fact that not everything we do produces the expected quick result.

“In the earlier years of my career, results came systematically and early. However, the brutal truth is that sport does not look like that. I was lucky to experience it. Now I’m trying to switch to patience, to trust in the process that began in April. I know the changes won’t bring immediate effects, and I’m trying to believe that I’m on the right path to improving my tennis. A defeat should not define me. Obviously, these things are not pleasant, and fans probably experience my losses very strongly, but I know what challenges I’m facing. I should be humble toward sport. Tennis is not easy and it tests players practically every week. For me, only the bigger picture matters,” Iga emphasizes.

The Pole believes there is no single reason why she did not reach a later stage of the competition in Paris. Everything is connected, and in order to win a Grand Slam tournament, many things have to fall properly into place.

“I won’t give one thing for a nice headline. Rather, I can generally describe my feelings and what I learned during the tournament. I won’t hide that it was demanding because of the atmosphere surrounding me. It’s always like that when I go to Roland Garros. Sometimes it’s easier to bear, sometimes a little harder. To deal with it requires constant work,” Świątek explains.

A 180-Degree Change

Iga’s relatively early exit from Roland Garros was compensated for Polish fans by Maja Chwalińska. She became the sensation of the tournament, advancing to the final directly from qualifying. In Paris she played ten matches in a row, which represents a gigantic effort. After Roland Garros, the Pole advanced to 21st place in the WTA rankings. This means she recorded the biggest rise among players in the first 600 positions of the table.

“It was an incredible tournament for Maja, one that changed her life by 180 degrees. What can be appreciated most is the path she has gone through. It’s a beautiful story because it shows how differently and at what different pace success can be achieved in sport. I’m very happy that Maja was in the final and beat great players. She had the opportunity to experience all the emotions that accompany a player in a Grand Slam, and that is something completely different compared with other tournaments. I watched every one of Maja’s matches except the final, because by then I had already returned to training. I know how much Maja has been through, and I’m happy that she changed her life through the work she put in,” Iga Świątek admits with a smile. “It’s great that Maja gained so much support. Tournaments like that change the way people perceive a player. I hope it influences her in a positive way.”

Enjoying the Game

Ahead of Iga is the tournament in London. Grass courts have always been more difficult for Świątek. Despite that, last year our tennis player caused a sensation by winning Wimbledon. It was the sixth Grand Slam won by Iga in her career. Now she will come to England as the defending champion. However, Iga is unable to determine what chance she has of triumphing in London.

“If anyone were able to assess the size of that chance, they would make a lot of money through betting services. I’ve only just started training on grass. It’s nice to make use of the experience I gained a year earlier, but this year, going to Wimbledon, I’ll feel different—without expectations. I’ve repeated for years that I don’t really know how to play on grass, and not long ago nobody thought of me as a favorite. Returning in the role of defending champion is completely different. I’ve experienced that at several other tournaments and it’s not the easiest thing to carry. However, I have experience and I’ll make use of it,” Iga emphasizes.

At the same time, she points out that her victory a year ago has no influence on the stage she is currently at. She is trying to build herself day by day and work in Mallorca, where she is preparing for the next part of the season. Then there will be Bad Homburg and finally Wimbledon.

“Last year I approached that tournament with a different mindset because I knew that playing on grass was a challenge for me. I’ll admit that the only thing I thought about when going out for matches was taking advantage of the fact that after so many years I finally felt comfortable playing on grass. I want to enjoy the game and remember that moment, while at the same time lowering expectations and focusing on the fundamentals. Sport is fair. How we work during the weeks before a tournament, how we function every day, will determine how we ultimately perform,” Świątek says in her conversation with WP SportoweFakty.

“I’ll Let You Know”

During Roland Garros, Iga confirmed reports about plans to hire a second coach. That person would replace Francisco Roig when he is unable to work directly with the player.

“This year we started working together in April. The plan is for Francis to work with me for the entire season. But in the longer term, it makes a lot of sense to bring another coach into the team. Firstly, very few coaches can endure working 50 weeks a year and constant travel. It’s a demanding job. A second coach will always bring a bit of freshness and a different perspective. He may make the relationship with the first coach work even better. When you have good people around you, most of the time spent together is enjoyable, but different situations do happen, as we all know,” Iga laughs.

Before choosing the right coach, however, she wants to spend a week or two on court with that person.

“You have to check what the cooperation would look like in terms of communication. We already had our eye on several coaches, but it won’t happen next month, so the situation is dynamic and will change. I’ll let you know,” Iga notes.

A Large Part of Life

The six-time Grand Slam champion, Olympic bronze medalist, and former WTA No. 1, regardless of her results, has to deal with enormous hate. Especially when, after a series of great matches, she happens to lose in weaker fashion.

Iga admits that the more recognizable an athlete becomes, the more hate they receive. Support also grows, of course. However, hate makes everyday work much more difficult.

“If something works out for a person and they win, suddenly a loss becomes unacceptable. That’s not entirely human. Everyone makes mistakes, especially in sport. We are constantly being tested. Every week we have to prove how we play, what we have changed, what we have learned. It’s not easy, especially in the era of social media, when simply picking up a phone can expose us to an unpleasant headline or an opinion from a fan that is neither constructive nor pleasant,” Iga states.

And she adds that she received the most hate at the end of 2024, when she did not go to tournaments in China. She admits that it affected her deeply at the time.

“I received so much hate that I never would have expected something like that. In 2025 it wasn’t easy either. The last two years have been much harder in that respect. There were moments when it affected me very deeply, and there were times when it was difficult for me to free myself from it, even on the court. That’s why I’m happy that I have the support of people around me with whom I can talk about it,” Świątek smiles.

As Iga emphasizes, hate from fans is not very common. Unless, of course, someone placed money on her victory and then had to swallow the bitterness of defeat. The most loyal fans are sensible and realize that an athlete is only human. More hate, according to the 25-year-old, exists in a completely different part of public life.

“What surprises me more is hate from pseudo-experts who have a radical opinion—radical enough to appear in an article, in its headline. I find that difficult to accept,” Świątek admits.

The only way to deal with hate, she says, is to ignore it. The four-time Roland Garros champion tries not to read such comments. After all, they have no impact on the training process or on everyday life.

“Throughout my childhood I followed celebrities in the media—where Taylor Swift went out to dinner, for example. And now my perspective has changed so much that it’s difficult for me to judge whether that information is true. It’s not my responsibility but the media’s, though I understand that anything that attracts attention will always be better for the various institutions that share those news stories. You can rationalize the situation, but that doesn’t change the fact that it can hurt. Saying that we don’t care about it at all is stretching reality. I’m 25 years old, I’ve been famous for six years—it’s a large part of my life. I’ve learned to function with it. When difficult emotions come, I work through them immediately and I know that they are not the core of who I am,” Iga insists.

She also stresses that popularity brings more than just hate. There is also tremendous support from fans.