‘The pressure is bigger because of the ranking,’ insists Iga Swiatek

Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek recovered from a set down to defeat Fiona Ferro and reach US Open round three, insisting the pressure is increasing due to her climb up the rankings.

The Pole looked on the verge of tears after being largely outplayed in an opening set which sent 6-3 in Ferro’s favour, however Swiatek showed her class and responded brilliantly to win 3-6, 7-6, 6-0 in just over two hours.

The 20-year-old spoke about feeling ‘tight’ in the early stages of yesterday’s match, however the youngster was happy with how she battled back to win.

“Well, yeah, for sure it was a tough match,” Swiatek said. “I think I didn’t start it properly, because I felt like I couldn’t properly feel my legs. But it’s not the first time, so I’m trying to work on that. In second set, I loosened up a little bit, kind of changed tactics.”

“It was a similar match, in my mind, it was a similar match in Rome against Krejcikova,” she added. “It was a similar situation. And it’s always tough for me to use these kind of solutions when I’m just trying to push that ball and just give it back.”

Swiatek also insisted she is still learning to deal with the newfound pressure after her rapid rise up the rankings and felt it was normal for young players to understand the process.

“Usually on Grand Slams it was easier for me because I was just physically and tennis-wise, I was super prepared and that was helping me,” Swiatek said. “Here I am also prepared, but I feel like the pressure is bigger because of the ranking and everything that I have been going through, you know.”

“Yeah, it’s just hard to, like, describe it,” she added. “But I think it’s kind of usual of what players have after winning few tournaments for the first time.”

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