‘More prepared’ to deal with pressure – Iga Swiatek targets Paris Olympics as part of big 2024

Iga Swiatek has said she is confident she is better prepared than ever to deal with the pressures of being the world No. 1 in 2024, as she targets gold at the Paris Olympics.

Heading into the new campaign, Swiatek has belief she can be a leading contender at the Olympics, which will be held at Roland Garros – the clay venue where she has won the French Open title three times.

But she will also have to banish the painful memory of a second round exit at the Tokyo Games, when she lost to Paula Badosa.

“For sure the pressure was huge, I mean, you could see after I lost against Paula, I cried, it was a big fuss,” Swiatek said ahead of the new season starting in Australia.

“This time it’s going to be a little bit different. I’m going to know the venue. It’s going to be on my favourite surface. On the other hand, these also bring up more expectations from the outside.

“I guess I’ll have to do the same kind of work as I do in every other tournament. I’m not going to lie to myself that it’s going to be easy or the same because it will be different, a little bit.”

Swiatek has previously spoken about how she struggled with an increase in expectation when she first rose to the top of the rankings, but now says she has learned to deal with that as time has gone on.

“Playing these final matches in Cancun with such baggage on my shoulders in terms of rankings, it gave me a lot of confidence,” Swiatek said.

“I learned a lot about myself. I’m going to take it in 2024.

“Honestly, I’m looking ahead for these tournaments that are going to happen here in Australia for me. I want to take it step by step. I feel more prepared for sure to deal with the pressure of being World No.1 this year than last year.”

The United Cup is a mixed team competitions, featuring 18 nations facing each other in Perth and Sydney. One tie is made up of a men’s and women’s singles match each, before a mixed doubles encounter.

Swiatek’s Poland begin their United Cup campaign against Brazil on Saturday.