Iga Swiatek on ‘titles being more for Wikipedia than for you’ and breaking records

Iga Swiatek press conference

Iga Swiatek looks set for another incredible year, but the world No 1 admits she doesn’t want to look too far ahead into the future as the “tennis season can be really crazy”.

The four-time Grand Slam winner notched up yet another incredible feat en route to lifting the 2024 Qatar Open title over the weekend as she became the first player since Serena Williams at the Miami Open (2013-2015) to win a WTA event three times in a row.

She hasn’t lost in Doha since 2020 and Saturday’s title was her 18th WTA singles trophy with seven of them coming at WTA 1000 events. There is no doubt that Swiatek could still add a few more to her collection before the 2024 season is out.

When asked about her big goals for the remainder of the campaign, Swiatek played down title talks as she admitted that trophies are more for “Wikipedia” as it is mostly about improving as a player.

“I don’t know, because last season showed me that tennis season can be really crazy. My goal is to just, you know, develop as a player, and we’ll see,” she explained.

“Honestly, it’s so long, I’m really focusing just on this part and next week, I would say. Then I’ll see how it’s going to go. But Olympics, for sure, is a big tournament. I’m not gonna lie.

“I wouldn’t say, like, one tournament is a specific goal for me, because at the end, I was proud of each of my seasons no matter which tournament I won or what happened. You’re just happy that you can overcome obstacles and work hard.

“Sometimes the titles are more for Wikipedia than for you, but this season, yeah, I’m just taking it easy step by step and week by week.”

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Swiatek has an opportunity to also three-peat at this year’s Italian Open and Roland Garros and given her ability on clay you wouldn’t put it past her.

The 22-year-old already has some incredible records on her CV as in 2022 she set the longest winning streak of the 21st century as she won 37 matches in a row from February until July. It was also the first time in 25 years that a player on the WTA has had enjoyed a 37-match winning run.

The Pole also became the youngest woman to complete the Sunshine Double in 2022 after she won the Indian Wells Open and Miami Open aged just 20 years and 360 days.

What about breaking other records?

“I never really thought of myself as a record breaker. You know, I already did a couple of records,” Swiatek said. “It’s been amazing. But honestly, I don’t even know what records are there, because I think everybody is just talking about Serena and the Slams, you know.

“But I never really followed the other ones, but this was kind of cool. I never knew that it’s so special to win three times in a row. But I would say that it happens when you actually don’t know about it, so I don’t aim to break any records. I’m just playing tennis, and that’s all (smiling).”