Iga Swiatekadmits “everything changed” the day she became a Grand Slam champion at the age of 19. In 2020, the French Open was rescheduled for September due to the pandemic. At the 2020 French Open, a 19-year-old Swiatek made it all the way to become the first-ever Polish player to win a Grand Slam singles title.

Today, Swiatek – who will be turning 22 on May 31st – is a three-time Grand Slam champion and the world No 1. “It was like a quick course of maturity for me. Everything changed that day. In some ways, winning such a big tournament at such a young age makes it’s more difficult to win again due to the added pressure and expectation from others, from society but also from myself.

Most players have the sole goal of winning a big tournament like a Grand Slam. I achieved this early in my career which only made me even hungrier to win more. This feeling is something I try to deal with and use as motivation,” Swiatek said during a Q&A session with Rolex, via Tennis Connected.

In 2022 April, Swiatek reached the world No 1 ranking for the first time in her career. Since then, there have been no changes to the top spot. Swiatek has established herself as a very dominant force in the game and many agree the Pole will be making strong results for a very long time.

“First of all, I am driven by the pursuit of excellence and providing entertainment for the crowd. I like to play well and aggressively but also show some sophistication in terms of more complex rallies or difficult shots.

Winning is important, but tennis is a game of losers. In a match, there is only ever one winner and everybody else loses. I want to be a consistent player and have a long, healthy career, so even if I’m driven by winning, I always try to find pleasure in the process, in the everyday work and in defeat because that’s part of the job,” Swiatek explained. In a couple of days, Swiatek will kick off her French Open title defense at Roland Garros.