Iga Swiatek gave a funny answer when asked about her yearly expectations as the Pole acknowledged that the season was too long and that there was no way she would set specific goals for a period of 11 months.
On Wednesday, the third seed ousted Sorana Cirstea 6-3 6-4 to make the quarterfinal of the WTA 1000 tournament in Cincinnati. If the Polish tennis star beats Anna Kalinskaya in her next match, she will make her third consecutive semifinal in Cincy.
In July, Swiatek landed her maiden Wimbledon title and improved to six Grand Slams. Now, the 24-year-old is three victories away from lifting her first Cincinnati title.
After the former world No. 1 beat Cirstea, the on-court interviewer acknowledged the Pole’s recent form and asked if she could reveal what she sets as her goals at the start of the year. The reigning Wimbledon champion proceeded to funnily suggest that she splits it in two parts – she sets goals for the first part of the year and only then decides her goals for the second part of the season.
“Honestly, it’s not like the season starts and it’s a totally different story. The offseason is literally like four weeks. I have some goals for sure. But if we play for 11 months, you don’t know what’s going to happen in a few months, so I try to only look at the first part of the year and then switch to the second… Split it up. Because if I’m going to think in a broader horizon, think about the next 11 months, I’d be already tired after one week (laughing). I’m really just looking at the next tournament and that always helps me,” the world No. 3 explained.
It is not a secret that the start of the year wasn’t ideal for Swiatek as she had been struggling to win a title and even found herself ranked at No. 8 at one point in June. However, her 13-month title drought is now a thing of the past and she returned to No. 3 in the world.