"I had to kind of grow up tennis-wise": Swiatek on perils of suddenly becoming World No.1 at young age

Iga Swiatek had to quickly grow up tennis-wise after becoming world number one and she did a really fine job with that still holding on to that ranking.

After Ashleigh Barty left tennis a spot at the top was left unoccupied. Somebody had to fill it and it was Swiatek who stepped up and started to play incredible tennis. It was a whirlwind and happened very quickly for her but she proved able to handle all of that though it did come with change:

"It depends, because like professionally I think I change a lot, because I'm in a totally different situation. I had to kind of grow up tennis-wise pretty quickly because I became World No. 1 and I had to handle that."

Read also

2023 BNP Paribas Open Indian Wells Prize Money Breakdown with $8,800,000 on offer

While the professional life was hectic the personal life remained rather comfortable for her:

"Plus, you know, winning two more slams, it was a dream come true, but also, you know, a huge experience. But as a person I think I'm just growing up like a normal way. Yeah."

Up next is Rybakina who defeated her twice this year and she tuned in for her previous match catching the tiebreak because she was curious:

"Honestly, I watched like -- I didn't really focus. I was just watching I think the end of first set, because there was a tiebreaker, and I was just curious. Really, I didn't really watch a lot of what Elena did. I was more focused on what Karolina did, because I feel like she can play great tennis but because of her injuries she wasn't able to do that, and it's great to see her performing that well. "

Read also

Tennis gender pay gap shown with comparison between Serena Williams and Roger Federer during illustrious careers