Jan 16 (Reuters) – Iga Swiatek has dismissed suggestions the career slam is driving her Australian Open campaign this year, with the world number two saying on Friday that she tries to block out outside noise and focus only on “grinding match by match”.
A six-times major winner with titles at the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, Swiatek has yet to clear the semi-final hurdle at Melbourne Park.
Although the Polish 24-year-old acknowledged the milestone would be special, she refused to make it her primary focus.
“Honestly, since the beginning of the year, there are many people coming to me and talking to me about it. I’m really just focusing on day-by-day work. This is how it’s always been for me,” Swiatek told reporters.
“This is how I actually was able to achieve the success that I already have, just focusing really on grinding match by match. Winning a Grand Slam is tough, a lot of things have to come together to do that.
“It’s a tough tournament, so I have no expectations. Obviously it would be a dream come true. This is not my clear goal that I wake up with. I’m thinking more about how I want to play, what I want to improve day by day.”
Swiatek is on a collision course with twice champion Naomi Osaka while the big-hitting Elena Rybakina could block her path to the title, but the second seed said she did not want any spoilers about who her potential opponents could be.
“I’m not looking at the draw, so thanks for the heads-up. No, it’s not a joke. I’m literally not doing that,” said Swiatek, who faces China’s Yuan Yue in the first round.
“So please don’t spoil it for me. I want to be surprised after every match.”
Swiatek had mixed performances at the United Cup, where she lost her singles matches in the semi-finals and final, but Poland still managed to win the trophy for the first time after they beat Switzerland in the title clash.
“The Sydney matches weren’t the smoothest ones. It wasn’t an easy start. I think I still need to work on some stuff. I could play better,” she said.
“Overall I think it’s also going to be about the mentality and if I’m going to be able to go on court and just enjoy playing and give this extra energy.
“It’s not something I can describe, but just bring the intensity, be there every point and not really care if I’m going to make some mistakes or something will not work. Just go forward and try to push.”
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Sharon Singleton)
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