"I won't lie to you, it's a different kind of stress" admits Swiatek on returning home to play Warsaw Open

Poland’s tennis star Iga Swiatek has stated that it is a ‘different kind of stress’ playing in front of the home crowd.

The 22-year-old is currently taking part in the Warsaw Open in her home town where she registered a comfortable win against Nigina Abduraimova of Uzbekistan in straight sets with a score of 6-4, 6-3 on Tuesday.

After the match, Swiatek posted a message for her fans on her official Twitter account where she thanked the crowd and stated that it is not easy to play in front of the home crowd.

"Thank you for coming yesterday! It's always a great motivation but I won't lie to you, it's also a different kind of stress. So on Thursday I'll have another chance to get used to hard court and hopefully you'll enjoy it. See you,” she tweeted.

The tournament will be an important one for Swiatek, especially after a below-par performance in Wimbledon 2023 where she was knocked out from the quarterfinal stage after losing to Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina with a score of 7-5, 6-7, 6-2.

The Warsaw-born ace will be hoping to recover from that defeat as she will look to gather momentum ahead of her US Open title defense.

Swiatek won the title last year — which was her third Grand Slam title and the first on a hard court — after beating Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur in straight sets with a score of 6–2, 7–6.