WATCH: Iga Swiatek and Hubert Hurkacz talk about discipline, success and more


WATCH: Iga Swiatek and Hubert Hurkacz talk about discipline, success and more

Iga Swiatek and Hubert Hurkacz

In the seventh episode of ‘CrossCourt’, Poland’s tennis stars- Iga Swiatek and Hubert Hurkacz chat about various topics which include their diet, pre match routine and mental health. Swiatek paved the way for Polish tennis to rise last year when she won the French Open while Hurkacz stunned the world by winning the Miami Masters earlier this year.

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Hurkacz is a vegan and spoke about his diet and how veganism helps him recover faster. “It’s pretty simple for me. Usually at the the tournament I eat some some rice with vegetables before my before my matches,” he said.

“And I try to eat very healthy and focus because that gives a better recovery for my body and also plenty of energy.”

Swiatek then spoke about her pre match routines. She revealed how difficult a night match is for her as she has to keep herself focused for the entire day. “It’s just routines. I try to do everything exactly the same as I did before previous match and when I play a night session, it’s for me the hardest day because for the whole day I feel like I have to avoid things, that I’m gonna get tired,” she said.

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“So I’m just reading a book and doing LEGOS and when we were actually able to go outside of the bubble, I did some walks, then a nap and then when I woke up from the nap, I actually felt that I’m fresh and my mind is not busy with all the stuff that happened during the day and yeah then is the perfect time for me to to play.”

She added that the night matches were even more tougher for her two years ago but with experience she’s now gotten used to it.

“When I was like two years ago, it was hard for me to adjust and to change my plan when I played a night match or when I played at 11 pm. So with that experience I have right now, it’s much much easier,” she added.

‘It’s harder to deal with success’: Iga Swiatek

Iga Swiatek
Iga Swiatek

Swiatek is a big Rafael Nadal fan and spoke about why she rates Rafa so highly. She said that his attitude off the court and his game on clay is what she always wanted to achieve.

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“Basically it’s not only about the game. Of course I love his top spin and just how he plays on clay. Clay is also my favorite surface so when I was younger I just wanted to be like him. But I knew it’s kind of impossible because you know he’s much much stronger and I like his attitude and how he behaves off court. Actually I saw him on ATP’s Instagram where he met his fan, the older lady and that was really cool and he’s just trying to be a good example for other people,” she said.

She also shared an incident when Rafa said ‘Hi’ to her when she least expected him to. “Rafa is great. I mean when we were in Madrid, I was still surprised that he said Hi to me because I still feel like I’m a junior. I’m new here and he’s like a superstar so that shows that he’s really down to earth,” she said.

In the end, Swiatek spoke about how mental health is very important in tennis. She added that she realized after winning the French Open that it’s harder to deal with success.

She said: “I realized after French Open that it’s even harder to deal with success because people are preparing for the bad times but when like big success comes every everything is changing.”

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Also read: ‘She’s just a great person, great inspiration to look up to,’ Leylah Fernandez on Maria Sharapova