Iga Swiatek says she and Novak Djokovic “have competition in our blood” as the Pole believes that’s one of the main reasons why the 36-year-old Serb is still as hungry as ever. Djokovic, who clinched a record-breaking 23rd Grand Slam title at the French Open, also made the final at Wimbledon before suffering a five-set defeat to Carlos Alcaraz.
In the Wimbledon final, Djokovic was showing lots of emotion and it was clear that the Serb badly wanted to win even though it didn’t happen in the end. Swiatek, 22, is already a four-time Grand Slam champion and she seemingly understands very well Djokovic’s mindset.”You have to ask Novak (laughs).
I think we have competition in our blood. Me, when I play matches, I don’t think about statistics and records. It was definitely his goal, but I will admit that it’s always like we want to go out for the match and win it. Regardless of which round it is and what the stake is.
In a way, if we as players were thinking about all those points, numbers, stats, then it would be much harder. We don’t play tennis to think about it,” Swiatek told Przeglad Sportowy.
Swiatek on her French Open win
After winning her second French Open title in 2023, Swiatek arrived at this year’s French Open as the defending champion and the No 1 favorite for the title.
Although Swiatek dropped just one set en route to winning this year’s French Open title – it happened in the final against Karolina Muchova – the Pole admitted it was all but an easy campaign at Roland Garros for her.”Winning Roland Garros was kind of my goal, so I’m very proud and very happy about that.
In women’s tennis, no one has been able to defend the title in a Grand Slam tournament for a long time. I admit that there was a lot of pressure, the tournament was not easy. In the first matches, despite the fact that I had control in most situations, I felt that I wasn’t playing my best tennis, that I had to refine it, it had to develop during the tournament.
I also struggled with pressure off the court. That’s why I’m very proud that we managed and won this tournament,” Swiatek said.
