“Two years ago, I would say in my mind it felt pretty similar, because I just felt like I had already a great season, and now I can just go for it, you know. And 2020, it doesn’t really fit anyway, because it was just all hectic and it was all a surprise.”
It was no mean feat handling what was expected of her as such a long-standing leader of the pack.
In April, Swiatek became the fifth youngest woman to reach 100 weeks as world No.1 behind only Martina Hingis, Monica Seles, Steffi Graf and Chris Evert.
None of her prolonged success has been down to luck.
“She’s very professional, she’s such a hard worker and I think she is really thinking each match she wants to be the best and win every point,” Radwanska said. “It doesn’t matter who is on the other side of the net, she’s taking everything very seriously.
“I think especially every year gets tougher because everybody expects her to win everything everywhere and I think what she does the best is handle the pressure. It’s not easy if everybody is watching, judging, commentating and expecting you to win and you’re still doing that. I think that’s a big respect for Iga for managing that another year.”