Rio Olympics gold medalist Monica Puig has praised Iga Swiatek’s consistency and noted she believes the Pole is “mentally one of the strongest players out there.” Swiatek, 21, had a very dominant 2022 season, winning eight of her nine finals.
Also, Swiatek set up a new record for the most consecutive wins on the WTA Tour in the 21st century – the Pole won 37 consecutive matches at one point in 2022. In the last two weeks, Swiatek won Doha and finished as runner-up in Dubai.
“I think they’re doing a really good job of it, especially Iga. Wow, what can I say? Mentally, she’s one of the strongest players out there,” Puig said on Tennis Channel’s Inside-In podcast, per Sportskeeda.
Puig praises Swiatek’s mental strength
Puig, who announced her retirement from tennis last year, faced an enormous level the pressure and expectations after winning the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Reflecting on her own experience, Puig knows top players face a lot of challenges. “To me, a lot of people would say, ‘If you can’t handle this pressure and what’s going on right now, then you’re not cut out for this.’
That was the response. Nowadays, I feel like people are more understanding of the fact that we are going through all this pressure. It’s more like, let’s get help to see what you’re going through and analyze it in a different way,” Puig added.
At the start of the 2023 season, Swiatek wasn’t her usual self. After Swiatek’s very dominant 2022 season, many wanted to see how the Pole would do in Australia. Swiatek seemingly heard all the talk and it was evident that she was under enormous pressure at the Australian Open.
After suffering a surprise round-of-16 loss at the Australian Open, Swiatek admitted that she just crumbled under the pressure. Fortunately for Swiatek, she was able to bounce back in the Middle East and make back-to-back finals in Doha and Dubai.
