{"id":68900,"date":"2021-05-17T12:38:07","date_gmt":"2021-05-17T12:38:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/en.bornomalanews.com\/?p=68900"},"modified":"2021-05-17T12:38:07","modified_gmt":"2021-05-17T12:38:07","slug":"perfectionist-swiatek-on-high-before-roland-garros-title-defence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.bornomalanews.com\/?p=68900","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Perfectionist\u2019 Swiatek on high before Roland Garros title defence"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Sports Desk:<\/strong> French Open champion Iga Swiatek warned she would not be satisfied with just one Grand Slam as she heads for Paris after claiming her first WTA 1000 trophy in style in Rome on Sunday.<\/p>\n

The 19-year-old demolished world number nine Karolina Pliskova 6-0, 6-0 in just 45 minutes on the red clay of the Foro Italico.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m surprising myself actually when I\u2019m not doing well because I\u2019m pretty ambitious,\u201d said the player from Warsaw, who was unknown a year ago, before winning her first career title in Paris.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are many players that regress after winning their first Grand Slam.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always though try to be different. I\u2019m a perfectionist.\u201d<\/p>\n

Swiatek has now won three titles, following on from Roland Garros with Adelaide in January, and now Rome, and will move into the top 10 for the first time on Monday.<\/p>\n

She showed no fatigue after back-to-back matches on Saturday, when she defeated two-time Rome winner Elina Svitolina and American teenager Coco Gauff and nearly three-and-a-half hours on court.<\/p>\n

\u201cDay after day I was feeling a little bit better,\u201d explained Swiatek, who had saved match points in the third round against Barbora Krejcikova.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlaying yesterday (Saturday) two matches actually gave me more than it would usually, because I would get tired, but this time I was in a rhythm and I could feel that. So it gave me a lot of confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Swiatek travels with a team including a psychologist which she says has helped improve her game.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had good people around me, telling me not to really worry, and that sometimes it\u2019s the best idea not to care.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody can play great forehands and backhands and be physically well, but the champion is going to be the one that is stronger mentally.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think mentally I was really in good shape today.\u201d<\/p>\n

She swept through the first set in just 20 minutes, allowing Pliskova four points, dropping just 13 in total throughout the match.<\/p>\n

Pliskova tried to fight back in the third game of the second set, holding double break points, but the Polish player ruthlessly snuffed out any return.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the beginning I felt that she may be a little bit nervous, and I wanted to use that and actually play as many games with that vibe as I can,\u201d said Swiatek.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it\u2019s not easy to win the first set 6-0, because you always have in the back of the mind that your opponent may start playing better and they can change the tactics completely, and then you have to adjust and then you\u2019re going to start worrying.\u201d<\/p>\n

She was so focused she had not realised her opponent had not won a game.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was playing I didn\u2019t even know what was the score,\u201d admitted the 15th seed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen my coach told me it was 6-0, 6-0, I was, like, Really? Isn\u2019t that a mistake?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI will just quickly forget about today,\u201d said Pliskova, the former world number one, who was playing in her third consecutive Rome final.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was having maybe a moment of her life<\/p>\n

\u201cBut you can see her results on clay, they are great. It\u2019s not just like, you know, luck.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sports Desk: French Open champion Iga Swiatek warned she would not be satisfied with just one Grand Slam as she heads for Paris after claiming her first WTA 1000 trophy in style in Rome on Sunday. The 19-year-old demolished world number nine Karolina Pliskova 6-0, 6-0 in just 45 minutes on the red clay of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":68901,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n