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The WTA No.1 Iga Swiatek, in an interview with Players Tribune, talked about the dark moments she had to experience during her career, before achieving success.
Standing out in tennis is complicated. Not all those who aim to become professionals make it and one of the problems, especially at the beginning of their careers, concerns the economic aspect.
“Poland doesn’t have that system yet. The conditions aren’t as good for the athletes, the money isn’t there to be honest. Sometimes growing up I didn’t have anywhere to play, so my dad always had to adapt. And it wasn’t easy for him to invest all that money to hire a coach and have a field to train on.
That part is the hardest to think about and share openly,” the Polish tennis player explained. “When I think about my father, I remember that he wasn’t always so calm. I think he did everything to protect me from the reality outside of tennis.
He was an Olympic rower and I think his main goal from the beginning, when he noticed for the first time the talent in me and my sister for sport was to make us better athletes than him. He basically dedicated his whole life to helping us do it, even though he never said…
