Iga Swiatek has named the trait she wishes she could have from Carlos Alcaraz, speaking ahead of her return to tennis.
It has only been a brief hiatus for the Polish superstar, but it was one richly deserved after a gruelling year thus far.
Pressure on the 23-year-old has arguably never been so intense, as questions over her inability to win a title, a drought that had stretched over 12 months, only grew in stature.
However, she silenced any doubters at Wimbledon, surging to the title on what many believed to be her least favourite surface.
And whilst Carlos Alcaraz may have lost the men’s final, Iga Swiatek remained supremely complimentary about the Spaniard, even outlining one thing he does which she so richly wishes she had the ability to do.
Iga Swiatek wishes she were more like Carlos Alcaraz
First, talking about Alcaraz with TVA Sports, the former world number one made an honest admission: “I wish I was more like Carlos because I have got to say he is a big inspiration in terms of that.
“He always says that the most important thing for him on a tennis court is to enjoy it and have fun and I sometimes forget about that and sometimes with all the pressure around and things we need to do off the court, you need to remind yourself about this kid that started playing tennis instead of winning for somebody and having this baggage on your shoulders.
“For sure, when Carlos shows that and when he speaks about that, it is always a good reminder for me, and I try to do that as well, but without me working on it, I think my mind would automatically go to just working, working, working.”
Swiatek then touched upon these longer Masters 1000 events, like Toronto, stating: “I kind of already got used to it. I think I liked playing these shorter tournaments because physically I was always more efficient, I would say, and I could really last longer.
“Sometimes I felt my opponents in the semifinals or the finals, I felt were really tired, but now we have more time to recover so I think the physicality is less important, but it’s more important to mentally be able to cope with these days off. It’s not like we have a day off and we go on vacation for 24 hours, we kind of wait for the match, we think about it, so I think handling that is the tricky part, but I have got to say that I have got used to it.
“We also have many days off in a Grand Slam, so no problem.”
Despite this, Swiatek has complained about the tennis schedule at length, which makes her indifference on the matter rather surprising.
Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek will both be chasing glory at the Australian Open next year
It’s not surprising, given the incredible talent both boast at such a young age, that both Swiatek and Alcaraz are on the same path towards ultimate glory.
Just one year separates the two, and whilst the former does boast one more major title, it is the Australian Open that they will both be desperate to win when January rolls around.
After all, it is the final piece in their Grand Slam collection, which would help both of them complete the career grand slam.
This is a feat only accomplished by the very best players of all time, and to do it at their respective ages would be a landmark achievement.
Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images
Naturally, the likes of Aryna Sabalenka and Jannik Sinner will provide ample competition, as the two dominant hard-court players of the men’s and women’s tours.
But Alcaraz and Swiatek can both feel confident heading to Melbourne, knowing that ultimate glory awaits them. That can be a powerful motivator, as Novak Djokovic will gladly admit after his Olympic gold medal last summer.