Last Updated on February 22, 2023
Iga Swiatek, born and raised in Poland, is a 21 years old professional tennis player. Since April 2022, Swiatek is the current WTA world No 1. In 2016, she won her first professional tournament.
In 2020, she achieved her first grand slam in Roland Garros, after defeating world No 1 Simona Halep in the fourth round. As a junior, she won the Wimbledon single title, and the Roland Garros doubles title. In 2018, she won the gold medal at the youth Olympic Games. Since December 2021, Iga Swiatek has been coached by Tomasz Wiktorowski.
In 2022, she became a two-time champion in Roland Garros, and she won her first US Open against Ons Jabeur. She is the first polish player to become the best tennis player in the world. Her prize money is over $15,356,030, according to the official WTA website. On Instagram, she is followed by over more than 1 million users.
As she rapidly became a tennis star, we want to know more about Iga’s life. So let’s check a little bit more about it. In this article, we are going to tell you 10 things you (probably) didn’t know about Iga Swiatek.
She Has One Cat (and wants more)
Crazy about cats, Iga has one called Grappa, because of her love for that kind of drink. In her Instagram account, she posts lots of pictures of her little-cute animal. She definitely, is not going to be her only cat in the future.
Her Favorite Music Genre? Rock!
Despite being only 21 years old, Swiatek loves old-school rock bands, such as Guns and Roses, AC/DC, Pink Floyd and Pearl Jam. She says that music “stays” with her along the WTA tour. And she explained why she prefers that kind of genre. “I think that early music fascinates me because it had more value in the past, more spirit, it brought more emotions and was less synthetic”.
A Sports Family
Her passion for sports is a family inheritance. Or kind of. Iga’s father was an olympic athlete. Tomasz Swiatek, a former rower, competed in Seoul ‘88 and the world championships, where he finished in the fifth position. He won no medal. Her sister, Aga, intended to be a tennis player, but she gave up.
Iga Swiatek, The Football Player
It’s very common to see Iga playing football with the tennis ball on the court. That’s because, for many years, she played for Warsaw Legia Football. In Wimbledon 2021, she showed in central court some of their amazing football skills.
Iga’s Favorite TV Show Is… Mad Men
“It has a retro atmosphere that is very cool”. Again. In a sense, Iga seems to prefer the past over the present. “For me it is important to be able to learn something in a series. It shows many ideas that are now obvious to us, but were something new at the time” she says.
She Is A Rafa Nadal Fan
Once, she said about El Matador: “I admire him as an athlete, for his fighting spirit; he is a model athlete. Rafa always fights until the very end, he is a tennis warrior. I admire the way he has to play with those top-spins, I also like to play like that. His left backhand is incredible”. But he’s not the only tennis player she admires. “I also like and respect Roger Federer. He is a legend of our sport”. Nevertheless, she doesn’t hesitate saying that prefer Rafa’s style and personality. “I love his energy”.
What Does She Like To Read About?
Some of Iga’s favorite books are about crime novels. If she had to name an author, she would choose Dan Brown. Although she likes Ken Follet’s historical novels, she considered them too long, that’s why, sometimes, she prefers to read something lighter. ¿One book that she enjoyed reading? “The Cathedral of the Sea”, by spanish writer Ildefonso Falcones.
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Iga Works With A Psychologist Specializing In Sports
Instead of spending the money on wearing the best clothes or going to massive events, Iga prefers to be focused on her game. The responsibility of that attitude, in part, is due to her responsibility in her own mental health.
On October 10, World Mental Health Day, Iga decided to donate its Indian Wells third round prize (US$50,000) to Polish organizations working with mental health.
Before achieving No 1. World pole position, she confessed: “I don’t want success to change me in a negative way”. Maybe looking at Nadal’s mirror, during Australian Open 2022, she said to BBC: “After winning a Grand Slam you might think: ‘I’m going to be happy for the rest of my life’, but it’s the opposite. I wasn’t aware of that. I expected a lot from myself, and wanted to show people that I could play like this all the time. Something that is impossible. Winning a Grand Slam is fantastic, but I think at my age (19) it interrupted the peaceful process of growing and developing my game.“
She’s Not Only A Tennis Player: What Iga Wants To Study In The Future?
Before winning her first grand slam title, she studied at the university. Then, she had to interrupt the activity because… she became the best tennis player in the world. Nevertheless, she looks forward to getting back to university once she retires from professional tennis. Asked what kind of things she likes, she said: “Something related to math probably.”
A National Hero
In 2022, the native of Warsaw became the first tennis player in almost 100 years to become the Polish Sports Personality of the Year. In the final decision, she was elected over football star player Robert Lewandowski.
