"I was singing in my mind, it was Dua Lipa so kind of guilty pleasure" - Iga Swiatek on how she cleared her mind after losing 1st set against Zheng
Iga Swiatek's winning streak was under threat in the fourth round of the French Open on Monday, but she managed to steel herself to victory by singing a Dua Lipa song to herself.
Swiatek wobbled in the opener against 19-year-old Zheng Qinwen to drop her first set in more than a month. But she pushed the reset button and fashioned out a 6-7(5), 6-0, 6-2 victory.
In her post-match presser, the Pole explained how she cleared her mind after the first set.
"I felt like my mind is a little bit more clear. I was kind of singing songs. I realized in the first set when I was really focusing on that technical stuff, it didn't really work because I got more and more tense when I couldn't do that and why I couldn't really prepare to the shot the best way. I was singing in my mind, basically," said Iga Swiatek.
@iga_swiatek notches her 32nd consecutive win by grinding past Zheng 6-7(5), 6-0, 6-2!
: @rolandgarros Champions find a way 👉
🇵🇱 @iga_swiatek notches her 32nd consecutive win by grinding past Zheng 6-7(5), 6-0, 6-2!
🎥: @rolandgarros
https://t.co/SIfyJsA2Kp
"It was Dua Lipa, so kind of guilty pleasure," added Swiatek.
The 20-year-old Pole squandered a 5-2 lead in the first set and in the tie-break, as well as five set points as she dropped the opener.
But Zheng struggled physically after that as she took a medical timeout and had her right leg taped after going 3-0 down in the second. She revealed in her post-match presser that she was also suffering from menstrual cramps.
Swiatek, meanwhile, recovered the form that has seen her build an incredible 32-match unbeaten run. Swiatek's winning streak is now the third longest in the 2000s next to Venus Williams (35 in 2000) and Serena Williams (34 in 2013).
🗣️ "I'm happy that I could play a little bit faster"
-- No.1 @iga_swiatek on the keys to battling back today:
#RolandGarros https://t.co/SRK1gcW038
The World No. 1 has been open about working with a sports psychologist, Daria Abramowicz, to strengthen her mental game. Interestingly, Swiatek revealed that she is "always singing something" during her matches.
"That's not the first time. I'm always singing something, but I changed the song," said Iga Swiatek.
Swiatek: "It wasn't easy to find solutions and to find other tactics and do something differently, because I wasn't sure what I was doing wrong.”
Says she stopped focusing on the technical and started…singing Dua Lipa.
"That's not the 1st time. I'm always singing something." https://t.co/f2KGjRg3bo
"I think it's important that I had this kind of match which is kind of like a cold shower" - Iga Swiatek
At her press conference, Iga Swiatek welcomed the loss of the first set against World No. 74 Zheng Qinwen, saying that she will gain a lot of confidence from her fightback.
"I'm taking a lot of confidence in my comeback in second set. So I think it's important that I had this kind of match which is kind of like a cold shower, and it reminded me how to find these solutions after losing a first set. I feel when I'm going to take some positives from it, I think it's going to give me a lot before my next matches," said Swiatek.
Swiatek has set up a quarterfinal clash with 11th seed Jessica Pegula, who also rallied from a one-set deficit to beat Irina-Camelia Begu in the other fourth-round match.
15 - Iga #Swiatek is the fifth female player to win 15+ consecutive matches as the number #1 ranked in 2000s after Martina Hingis, Serena Williams, Justine Henin and Dinara Safina. Flying.
@WTA @WTA_insider https://t.co/AL4q32rld2