The BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells is underway and the top seeds are awaiting to take the court on Friday and Saturday. Leading up to their first matches in the WTA 1000 event, women’s tennis stars have held press conferences and gotten used to the desert sun and high-flying balls again.
Iga Swiatek: “In tennis, anything can happen.”
Top seed Iga Swiatek is in contention to be the first woman to defend the Indian Wells title since Martina Navratilova did it over thirty years ago. The world No.1 has a positive perspective that not every point she won last year needs to be defended. Ahead of the tournament, the Pole explained to media that she’s more focused on the race rankings and thinking in those terms takes her out of focusing on last year’s results.
Right now, Swiatek says, “I’m just trying to take every tournament step by step and not really think about what happened last year. In tennis, anything can happen. It’s pretty unpredictable.”
Swiatek’s title defense begins with a Saturday match against American Claire Liu.
Ons Jabeur is ready after a minor surgery
The mental shift toward the race rankings has not made Swiatek any less of a perfectionist. Asked about the Polish player, current world No.4 Ons Jabeur told the media that she admires Swiatek’s…
