The Pole made an interesting revelation regarding a very important moment in her life: the signing of her first sponsorship contract
Iga Swiatek, engaged in the quarterfinals at the Western & Southern Open, WTA 1000 in Cincinnati, made an interesting revelation regarding a very important moment in her life: the signing of her first sponsorship contract, and the pressure that resulted.On Thursday, August 17, 2023, Iga became the first tennis player ever to sign on as a global ambassador for Visa.Just yesterday, in the post-match press conference, she talked about her first sponsorship contract, now signed years ago, and the mixed feelings she felt at that moment.Swiatek explained: “I remember, you know, signing my first sponsorship deals in, like, 2019 and 2020 and how much pressure it put on my shoulders.
Not everybody understood, honestly, because even people kind of close to me sometimes, my family , they thought that it’s going to, I don’t know, give me wings and, like, I’m gonna be just proud and play my best game, you know.
But sometimes you feel like you need to perform better because they believe in you and you’re representing them. I really needed to work on that hard, and I did that and I’m over it. I’m just really happy that I work with such great companies and they want to be together with me on the journey.”
Swiatek: “Too much hate towards me”
In the press conference following her three-set win against Qinwen Zheng in the 3rd round in Cincinnati, Swiatek talked about the hate she and her team have received in recent weeks.Iga explained: “My game wasn’t perfect today, we all saw it.
But the amount of hate and criticism my team and I receive after losing a set is just ridiculous. I want to encourage people to be more thoughtful when commenting on the web. It would be great to get help from you journalists, because we all sacrifice and work hard to be here.We always give 100%.
It’s sad to see the way I and the people I work with are judged. I would like to encourage people to think. I was able to turn the match around thanks to the work I do physically and mentally.Off the pitch I always try to be the best person possible.
On the internet the situation gets worse and worse: the comments are very bad. I wish that situation would change, because the web will no longer be a safe place. I wish my team and I were respected more.”
