Iga Swiatek made a very interesting comment following her latest dominant Australian Open win as the Pole says she kind of has “a ruthless mentality” on the court and that drives her to be her best but her goal isn’t actually to be ruthless towards her rivals.
On Wednesday, the world No. 2 safely progressed into the Australian Open semifinal with a 6-1 6-2 win over 2023 US Open semifinalist Emma Navarro.
For the 23-year-old, it was her fifth straight-set win in Melbourne Park this year.
And to make it all more impressive, Swiatek has dropped only 14 games through those five matches – d. Katerina Siniakova 6-3 6-4, d. Rebecca Sramkova 6-0 6-2, d. Emma Raducanu 6-1 6-0, d. Eva Lys 6-0 6-1, d. Navarro 6-1 6-2.
Since the start of the year, the Polish tennis star has already had four bagel sets (6-0) and she also delivered breadsticks (6-1) on five instances.
Swiatek: Maybe it looks ruthless but it’s not my goal to do that
“On a tennis court, you kind of need to be ruthless,” the five-time Grand Slam winner stated.
“Ruthless usually means something negative but I think for me just focusing on myself and having the same kind of attitude no matter what the score is is important.
“This is what I base my strength on and my consistency and the way I just continue to do the good things I do on court.
“Maybe it looks ruthless, but it’s not my goal to do that. I just want to win more and more games, and this is the effect I got for the past matches.”
Iga Swiatek© Australian Open/Instagram – Fair Use
For a place in the Australian Open, Swiatek is set to battle against in-form Madison Keys, who is currently on a 10-match winning streak.
Heading into the match, the former world No. 1 leads their head-to-head 4-1 and has won their meetings in Madrid and Rome last year.
But when they met the last time on a hard court in 2022 Cincinnati, Keys won 6-3 6-4.
While the American is in great form, Swiatek is also at her very best and therefore there is no doubt who is the favorite to win this matchup.
Tennis World USA