Poland’s breakthrough grand slam champion Iga Swiatek says consistency will be the key to any future success she has after becoming the youngest women’s champion for 23 years at the French Open.
The 19-year-old beat American Sofia Kenin 6-4 6-1 on Saturday to win her first-ever senior tournament to mark not only history for her country as the first grand slam singles champion, but also joining a line of young major winners in the women’s game.
Swiatek is the ninth female player in the last 14 major tournaments to win their first grand slam, which is in stark contrast to the men’s game that is dominated by three players Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.
And so soon after calming down from the overwhelming emotion of success, Swiatek already faced questions if she could pull off a repeat performance.
“I think the biggest change for me is going to be being consistent. I think this is what women’s tennis is struggling with.
“That’s why we have so many new grand slam winners because we are not, like, as consistent as Rafa, Roger and Novak. I’m only 19. I know my game isn’t developed perfectly.
“That’s why my goal is going to be being consistent. It’s going to be really hard to achieve that. Right now I’m just going to enjoy the moment.”
The 21-year-old beaten finalist Kenin has been in Swiatek’s shoes earlier this year when she won a grand slam for the first time at the Australian Open with a three-set victory against Spain’s Garbine Muguruza.
She says seeing Swiatek win a trophy so young will put the other women in the rankings on their guard.
“It’s a bit more competition on us, the top players,” Kenin said.
“Sometimes we may not like that. We obviously want to keep our generation and not let the youngsters take over. But it’s always good to see youngsters taking over and playing great tennis. It’s always good to mix it up.”
Kenin sustained a left leg injury in the final and confirmed she would not be going to the last tournament of the year in Ostrava, Czech Republic at the end of the month.
The season-ending WTA Finals in Shenzhen, China have been cancelled due to coronavirus.
“It sucks the season is over for us,” Kenin said.
For Swiatek, she will return home as a national sporting hero but she is not worried about the attention. She was more concerned about overshadowing players that have come before her.
Swiatek was not the first Polish player to play in a grand slam final. That right goes to Agnieszka Radwanska, who lost to Serena Williams at Wimbledon in 2012.
“I just feel like I kind of made history. But I still think that Radwanska, she achieved like a lot,” Swiatek commented.
“I think I have to be really consistent for the next couple years for everybody to name me like the best player in Poland because still I have a lot to do.”
