Tennis: Tennis-Swiatek leaves ‘baggage’ behind as she returns to New York

(Reuters) – Iga Swiatek saw her hopes of a U.S. Open title defense dashed last year when she fell in the fourth round at Flushing Meadows but now says she feels free of the pressure that helped fuel that letdown.

Swiatek, the tournament’s 2022 champion, was upset by Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko last year, and as a result lost her world number one ranking to big-hitting Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka.

But the irrepressible player from Poland regrouped to win the season-ending WTA Finals to wrest back the top ranking, which she has held onto ever since.

“Last year I felt I had many things to defend, like the world number one position, all my points, and also the title itself,” she told reporters in New York on Friday.

“I felt like I had a lot of baggage on my shoulders. This year it’s a little bit different. This year I’m just trying to focus on what should I do tennis-wise to play the best game possible.

“My expectations are not as high compared to last year. I’m going to try to focus on getting everything step by step.”

Despite winning five titles including her fourth French Open crown this year, the 23-year-old admitted she is coming off a rough patch including a disappointing bronze at the Paris Games and a comprehensive loss to Sabalenka in Cincinnati on Sunday.

“It’s been a really intense season, and after the Olympics, it hasn’t been easy,” she said.

“I feel the best when I’m just focused on practicing and grinding on the court and really focused on just making my game better and not on the results.

“I’m just going to try to keep that mindset and that attitude.”

Five-time Grand Slam champion and the tournament’s top seed Swiatek will begin her U.S. Open campaign on Tuesday against a qualifier and faces a potential quarter-final clash against American world number six Jessica Pegula.

The U.S. Open will be played Aug. 26-Sept. 8.

(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles; Editing by Diane Craft)