Tennis

Mats Wilander applauds Iga Swiatek’s ‘Naomi Osaka-like move’ at Australian Open

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Mats Wilander is applauding Iga Swiatek for pulling off a Naomi Osaka-like move and very honestly opening up about the pressure and challenges she faced at the Australian Open. 

After suffering a shock Australian Open round-of-16 defeat to Elena Rybakina, Swiatek admitted that she entered the Australian Open feeling extreme pressure to deliver and win the title.

Also, Swiatek admitted that at the Australian Open she felt “that I don’t want to lose instead of I want to win.”

“Naomi Osaka was applauded for coming out [about her struggles] and she won four majors. She came out after the fourth Grand Slam and said she has mental health issues and that was applauded in every way. But we never really knew why, was it the pressure or [something else]? With Iga, in a way she had the same success at a very young age, she is talking about it openly and we have all been somewhere exactly like that. Sometimes you play to not lose and sometimes you play to win, it is just the way it is. We have to forget about Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Serena Williams. These people are superhuman. Iga Swiatek is not there yet, but I think she’s on the right path, it’s a healthy outlook and she’s being honest and can talk about it,” Wilander told Eurosport.

Swiatek remains without an Australian Open title

Last year, Swiatek reached her first Australian Open semifinal.

That result set Swiatek up for a big 2022 Grand Slam-wise as in the rest of the season the Pole won the French Open and US Open.

Recently, Swiatek admitted that her 2022 Australian Open results did wonders for her as after that she was convinced that she could play well on hard.

Going into the 2023 Australian Open, many had Swiatek as the top favorite for the title.

Unfortunately, the pressure was too much for Swiatek and she will have to wait for 12 months to get another chance to compete for the Australian Open title.

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