Iga Swiatek OPENS UP about the hardships of achieving FAME at a young age like her and Emma Raducanu
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Iga Swiatek and Emma Raducanu
Iga Swiatek and Emma Raducanu are the two young stars of Tennis who achieved Fame overnight. Iga Swiatek won the French Open in 2020 at the age of 19 and became an overnight sensation.
Emma Raducanu achieved a similar feat a year after Swiatek. She won the US Open at the age of 18 and became the first qualifier to win a Grand Slam tournament in the Open Era.
Although the two teenagers managed to accomplish such a unbelievable feat this early in their career, they haven’t been able to live up to the expectations their wins have set. Swiatek in a recent interview with Telegraph Sport said, “Fame is hard for young people like me and Emma Raducanu”
Problems with CONSTANT SPOTLIGHT for Young people like Iga Swiatek and Emma Raducanu
Iga Swiatek in a recent interview with the Telegraph Sport ahead of the Australian Open 2022 opened up about the problems that Fame brings with itself. The highest point for Swiatek’s short career has been her winning the French Open 2020 at the age of 19.
The polish player started as an underdog and managed to beat players ranked much higher than her. She went from being a random 19-year-old to a Grand slam champion.
The French Open win obviously increased the fans expectations from the 19 year old. She went from being an underdog to being favourite. Although, she hasn’t been able to win another major but she has manged to make the second week at all four grand slams, won titles in Adelaide and Rome, and moved into the top 10 WTA rankings and reached the year-end WTA Finals in Guadalajara.
However, in the interview Swiatek opened up about the problems that she faced after her first grand slam win. She said, “[When] I started the season it was pretty stressful because that was the first time in my life where I knew my sponsors (Asics and Rolex) trusted me and I had new partnerships. I wanted to show them this wasn’t just one tournament, I felt like I had huge baggage on my shoulders,”
“I had to realise that, hey, if you’re not going to chill out a little bit, you’re not going to play well and prove to yourself or the world that it wasn’t just a one-time thing. I was able to go back to when I was an underdog for a little bit. But in 2021 I was on and off.” Swiatek added.
Swiatek in the same interview also talked about Emma Raducanu and her magnificent win at the US Open 2021. She said, “Funny thing, Emma’s sitting right behind me, What she did was amazing, going from qualifying – huge respect because she must have been tired. But I also know how it is to be in that zone and I remember how I felt at Roland Garros. I can imagine she had a pretty similar feeling.”
Swiatek is very mature for a person of her age. She understands the importance of mental health and has a full-time psychologist Daria Abramowicz in her entourage. Swiatek said, “She just made me smarter, I know more about sports and I know more about psychology and I can understand my own feelings and I can say them out loud.”
In the end, Swiatek talked about the importance of enjoying an event instead of trying to prove something. She said, “I’m pretty ambitious, and I’m a perfectionist, so I want to do better. But, last year, I constantly wanted to prove something, and now I just want to play to enjoy it,”
When asked if she would advice Raducanu to have fun instead of proving herself, She replied, “The biggest champions of our sports, they’re a master at that – the pressure is there for sure, but they can handle it. I still feel like I’m not on that level to give advice like that, It’s on and off for me right now. Maybe in a few years I’m going to be able to say, ‘Hey, look what I did’.”
Also Read: Check Out: Iga Swiatek’s Outfit for Australian Open 2022!
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Parth Dubey
(314 Articles Published)