Chris OddoAugust 14, 20263 minute read
Iga Swiatek’s speech at the National Bank Open in Toronto gave viewers a glimpse into her mindset at the moment.
“I want to dedicate this title to everyone who is dealing with unfair judgment and hate. Just keep pushing, keep growing, keep focusing on yourself because you know what’s best for you,” she said. “Always remember what’s ahead and what might be possible.”
Swiatek, who took out Elena Rybakina for her 26th career title, took the moment to channel her frustration with what she perceives as unfair judgment and hate into a message meant to inspire others.
She was asked to elaborate in her post-match press conference, and did so.
“All the things that I mentioned in the speech. Just the unfair judgment, and sometimes the people just judging and hating,” she said, apparently referring to comments made about her on a Polish-language podcast.
Given the amount of click-hungry opinions that abound, it could have come from anywhere. It’s part of the landscape for today’s top pros who most find ways to protect themselves from the harsh critics and unabashed adoration that relentlessly lurk in cyberspace.
She’s not the first one to call out the haters after a big win, and she won’t be the last.
Typically the best solution is to ignore the noise, but once the genie is out of the bottle, what can a player do but use it as motivation? Oftentimes players do their best to switch off, but when they are asked by other members of the media about critical remarks, they become aware of the rabbit hole that beckons.
Swiatek, who now owns 12 1000-level titles to go with her six major triumphs, said she wasn’t fixated on her feelings all week, but the emotions of winning her first big title of the year brought her percolating thoughts to the surface. What we got was a glimpse into the mind of an athlete constantly under pressure, from her own expectations and from the outside noise that the media and social media create. It’s not an easy path to walk.
“It’s good to focus on how to create space for you to just focus on yourself,” she said. “It’s not so easy to do that. But the best thing about these two weeks for me was that I could kind of let it go. This anger came after I won. But during the whole process I was really focused on just growing and progressing.”
She was feeling fed up with unwarranted criticism and had to let her emotions out.
“For sure I feel like I worked hard through all this noise, and unnecessary noise, that’s what makes me angry,” she said. “Because it shouldn’t be like that and it doesn’t need to be like that.”
Swiatek notched four Top 20 wins en route to her first title of the season in Toronto. She played with aggression, her relentless footwork and punishing groundstrokes dictating terms to opponents. She doesn’t like the term, saying it makes her feel old, but this was vintage hard-court Swiatek.
“The journey has been bumpy this season,” Swiatek said.
Asked about her post-match speech, and how she let the anger she felt fuel her, Swiatek said:
“I didn’t feel it during the tournament. I guess now after I won, I kind of let myself feel it a little bit because as I said in the speech there are plenty of things that athletes, not only athletes, all the people have to struggle with.
“Sometimes we need to fight things that we shouldn’t. That’s why I’m even more proud of myself that I focused on my path, and I didn’t let that define me.
“I believed, and I know what my game is worth, and I just need to focus on the right stuff, do the right work, and the bright days will come.”
Credit Swiatek for rising above her emotions, and for sharing her frustration and turning it into something that can inspire others as well as herself.