Iga Swiatek shares deepest thoughts in post issued days after crying for six hours

Iga Swiatek used the last couple of days to sit back and analyze every detail from her Paris Olympics run as the world No. 1 pretty much said that she experienced from the best to the worst during this year’s Summer Games.

Going into this year’s Paris Olympics, four-time French Open champion Swiatek was considered the absolute favorite for the gold medal and anything besides that would have been a big surprise. And that big surprise happened after Swiatek delivered a pretty shaky and tight performance in a shock 2-6 5-7 semifinal loss to Zheng Qinwen.

Moments after the match was over, Swiatek refused to shake the chair umpire’s hand over a call on Zheng’s match point and later was seen crying during a TV interview. However, the 23-year-old Pole still earned her maiden Olympic medal in Paris after dismantling Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 6-2 6-1 in the bronze medal match the day after her loss to Zheng.

After getting bronze, Swiatek revealed that she “cried for six hours” after the Zheng match and that she felt humbled.

“After a couple of days I feel ready to sum up this chapter… Joy, happiness, sadness, disappointment, satisfaction, hunger for more, pride and so many other emotions, thoughts… I’m still figuring it out and I feel how valuable this experience was to me. Maybe in the future I will assess these two weeks with a bigger picture and a better perspective, but I already see a lot,” Swiatek wrote in a message posted on X.

“First of all, how much progress I’ve made since Tokyo. How much I can do, how many opportunities I have to become a better player and human. But what’s most important is how much l’ve experienced here. It was a special time that wouldn’t be possible without my team and my family. Thank you for what you did for me.”

Swiatek’s message to Zheng, Donna Vekic but also the tennis world

After clinching the biggest win of her career against Swiatek, world No. 7 Zheng also delivered big time against Vekic in the final, beating the Croatian 6-2 6-3. For 21-year-old Zheng, it was the best possible Olympic debut while 28-year-old Vekic also got her first medal in Paris.

“@zhengqinwen_tennis, @donnavekic, huge congrats to you! I’m grateful I could share the Olympic podium with you two,” Swiatek added.

In her message, the Polish five-time Grand Slam champion also took a moment to express her gratitude that the game of tennis received so much attention at this year’s Games.

“When I’m thinking about the Olympics and tennis, I’m so proud, how our sport was pictured in Paris. So many amazing matches, inspirational stories, amazing pictures from the opening ceremony where tennis players had a special place. We should appreciate that tennis plays such an important role in the world of sports. I’m happy that my story is part of it,” Swiatek explained.

🥉🇵🇱 After a couple of days I feel ready to sum up this chapter… pic.twitter.com/8PfRVQkKyF

— Iga Świątek (@iga_swiatek) August 6, 2024

What Swiatek exactly said after one of her most heartbreaking losses?

Against Zheng, Swiatek blasted a total of 36 unforced errors and only had 12 winners – a pretty shocking stat line considering how the Pole is usually the one controlling everything and forcing her rivals into mistakes. All of that indicated that the 23-year-old Pole was under enormous pressure to deliver for her country and that she expected herself to win gold.

And after her Olympic run came to an end, Swiatek very honestly opened up on how tough Saturday night was after she failed to secure a final ticket and a chance to compete for the main glory.

“You don’t wanna know (laughing). Well truth be told, I don’t remember, maybe I cried like that after losing in Australia after I won my first Grand Slam. After Roland Garros that was in October and then we started the season in Australia, I lost and I cried for like three days basically. I think if I wasn’t playing today I would cry (for) over a week.

“I probably cried for like six hours yesterday. It was really tough. I don’t know, sometimes it feels like it’s sport and it’s tennis and usually I’m able to have the distance to all of it and just understand that it’s only one part of my life but this time it was like somebody really broke my heart, you know?

This week, the WTA 1000 tournament in Toronto is taking place but Swiatek is out of the tournament due to fatigue and exhaustion. If everything goes as planned, Swiatek should be back in action in Cincinnati, which starts on August 13th.