Iga Swiatek made headlines when she recently won the 2020 French Open to prove that she belongs among the best in the world of tennis.
The 19-year-old was simply amazing in the said competition as she became the first WTA player since Justine Henin in 2007 to win the whole thing without dropping a single set. At the same time, she became the youngest French Open winner since Rafael Nadal 15 years ago.
“It’s hard to describe how special this day is for me. It’s so strange to achieve something that seemed so distant. But yup, it’s here – I’m a grand slam champion,” tweeted Swiatek after her victory.
Because of this, the Pole’s stock has risen dramatically. From being the 54th-ranked player in the women’s division, Swiatek has moved up to no. 17 according to the latest WTA 2020 news.
Iga Swiatek’s celebrity status will definitely grow from here moving forward. So for today, allow SBOTOP to help you get more familiarized with her as we list some details that talk about her up-and-coming career.
She comes from a sporting family
Iga Swiatek’s athletic gifts are not purely by coincidence as her family already has a background in sports.
Her dad Tomasz was a rower and he represented the Poland national team back in the 1988 Seoul Olympic games.
To carry on the family tradition, Tomasz let his daughters try out different sports when they were much younger.
His eldest daughter in Aga took up swimming at first, but she eventually decided to play tennis and the younger Iga followed suit. Both of them would go head-to-head against each other, creating a friendly rivalry back in the day.
Both of them trained and joined some high level competition back in their home country. Aga briefly competed in the 2013 ITF Juniors while Iga played at Mera Warsaw first before moving to Legia Warsaw at 15 years old.
She had a fruitful juniors tennis career
It’s safe to say that Iga Swiatek made the right choice of pursuing tennis as she would achieve so many early on.
The young Pole made her Juniors Grand Slam debut in the 2016 French Open to go to as far as the quarterfinals in the singles competition, and then she would go on to win the Grade 1 Canadian Open Junior Championships and the Traralgon Junior International title.
One of her biggest achievements in her budding career came at the 2018 French Open Juniors to where she swept past her competition for her first major Grand Slam. From there, she would continue her rise.
She represents her country loud and proud
Iga Swiatek is no stranger to representing Poland as she did so in numerous occasions.
In 2014, Swiatek won all matches to lead her country to a ninth-place finish out of 16 teams and she followed that one up with a semifinals appearance in the succeeding year of the ITF World Junior Tennis.
She also played in the Billie Jean King Cup two years ago only to come up short several times. But overall, the Pole had a 7-3 record overall in the said competition.
With her win in the 2020 French Open, Swiatek not only became one of the lowest-ranked players to win a Grand Slam, but she also defied the WTA 2020 odds by being the first Polish international to win a Grand Slam singles crown.
The closest Pole to win a Grand Slam in recent years was Agnieszka Radwanska, who lost in the 2012 Wimbledon final against Serena Williams.
She is an advocate for mental health
Other than her tennis racket and gear, Iga Swiatek has a non-negotiable must-have in her tours.
Turns out, the 19-year-old brings over sports psychologist Daria Abramowicz everywhere she went to help her cope with her rigorous schedule.
The work of a psychologist isn’t noticed much by casual sports fans, but with her decision to always bring her along, Swiatek is indirectly advocating the importance of mental health – especially for athletes.
“I just believe that mental toughness is probably the most important thing in tennis right now because everybody can play on the highest level,” said Swiatek.
“But the ones that are tough and that can handle the pressure are the biggest ones. So I always wanted to develop in that way,” she added.
She has a bright future ahead of her
Although she’s achieved so many when she was just starting out, Iga Swiatek’s transition to the big leagues was not smooth sailing at all.
She had to overcome being an unranked player in multiple occasions, and she had to claw her way just to go into the major tours.
But her perservance and no-nonsense attitude brought her to where she is today, and she should be considered as one of the WTA’s brightest young stars.
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