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Iga Swiatek revealed she took some time to reset after a disappointing end to her Australian Open as she focused on accepting that not every match and tournament will be perfect. After enjoying one of the most dominant seasons in recent memory, Swiatek arrived to the Australian Open feeling the enormous pressure to deliver and win the title.
It didn't end well for Swiatek, who didn't look like her usual self and she ended up exiting the tournament in the round-of-16. Now, top-seeded Swiatek is set to return to action at this week's Qatar Open in Doha, where she is the defending champion.
"Exactly what I needed was to reset it a little bit, and I knew what I did wrong at the Australian Open and over my whole stay in Australia. I really wanted to focus on getting my expectations lower and not expect from myself that I'm gonna, you know, play perfectly all the time.
Because, yeah, last season was so strange, actually, that it can actually mess up with your head a little bit," Swiatek said, per Tennis Up To Date.
Swiatek hopes to enjoy a positive Doha campaign
"I really wanted to get both my feet on the ground, just focus on hard work and what I have to do on court.
I was really happy because we did. I would say even in the last part of the preseason, our practices were really intense and like, the volume was also pretty big. So I feel like I could really focus on the technical stuff and just improve as a player," Swiatek added.
In Doha, Swiatek has a first-round bye as the top-seeded player. After a first-round bye, Swiatek will meet in the second round the winner of the match between Danielle Collins and Elise Mertens. Last year, Swiatek captured her first Doha title.
Also, Doha was the tournament where Swiatek's stunning run of 37 consecutive won matches started. It remains to be seen if Swiatek can defend her Doha title.
