World tennis number one Iga Swiatek (Poland) will start her Australian Open campaign with a match against former champion Sofia Kenin (USA), and the Polish player said it was strange how different their careers had been since their only match in 2020.
Iga Swiatek defeated Sofia Kenin by 2-0 (6:4, 6:1) in the French Open final that year to claim her first Grand Slam title and has since gone on to claim two more Roland Garros trophies, as well as the US Open.
Sofia Kenin reached world No 4 in 2020 after becoming champion in Australian Open and reaching the final of the French Open, but fell sharply down the rankings to 235th last year due to injuries, illness and off-court problems.
“It strikes me that my first Grand Slam final was against Sofia, and now we’re playing in the first round. It’s quite strange. Our paths in life have kind of diverged”, said Iga Swiatek at the press conference in Melbourne.
Sofia Kenin improved her performance and is currently in world’s No 38 in the WTA ranking, so the Pole does not consider the American an easy opponent.
“I know she’s playing solid tennis, she was in Abu Dhabi. It’s not going to be easy. I’m just going to prepare the same way I usually do. I’m going to prepare my tactics. We haven’t met in a while, so I have to see how she’s playing right now. That’s it”, added Iga Swiatek.
The Polish tennis player made a brilliant start to the new season, winning all five of her singles matches at the United Cup Mixed Teams tournament. She said that although the Olympic title in Paris this year is also one of her goals, she is taking things one step at a time.
“For sure I would like to achieve a good result at the Olympics. But I don’t see the point of thinking about what will happen in July, because we have many tournaments before that which are important. Last year I analyzed what I can do during the season, but it is quite tiring . Now I’m focused on the Australian Open, after that I’ll think about my next goals”, said Iga Swiatek.
