Iga Swiatek of Poland attends her press conference after winning against Madison Keys of United States during the Mutua Madrid Open 2024, ATP Masters 1000 and WTA 1000, tournament celebrated at Caja Magica on Mayo 02, 2024 in Madrid, Spain
Iga Swiatek during a press conference
Iga Swiatek has described the tennis calendar as “probably the toughest one in sports” and declared it is “scary” that the schedule is “getting more crazy every year.”
The world No 1 also discussed the need to reset after a “pretty stressful” Paris Olympics experience and outlined her plan to treat the Cincinnati Open as a “practice tournament.”
Swiatek was the strong favourite to win the women’s singles gold medal at the 2024 Games, with the tennis event staged on the clay at Stade Roland Garros — where she has won four French Open titles.
Swiatek will play her first tournament since the Olympics at the WTA 1000 event in Cincinnati after she missed the Canadian Open in Toronto.
In her pre-tournament press conference, Swiatek brought attention to the relentless tennis schedule and expressed concern it is getting more challenging each season.
“Our calendar is crazy, probably the toughest one in sports,” said the Pole.
“There are sports that are really tough because, physically, you might get beat up. But most sports have four months off, sometimes even six. Our schedule is crazy, and it’s getting more crazy every year, which is scary. You just have to train wisely.”
The five-time Grand Slam champion also reflected on her Olympics campaign and highlighted the importance of resetting.
“It was pretty stressful and it wasn’t easy,” Swiatek explained.
“But I’m happy that I could leave Paris with a medal and with a lot of knowledge about myself. The most important thing for me was to learn from this experience.
Swiatek will face Ajla Tomljanovic or Varvara Gracheva in her opening match in Cincinnati. She reached the semi-finals in 2023, which is her best result at the WTA 1000 tournament to date.
