"It's also a different kind of stress"- Iga Swiatek on playing in front of home crowd after Warsaw Open 1R win

World No.1 Iga Swiatek began her Warsaw Open campaign with a straight-sets victory over Uzbekistan's Nigina Abduraimova in the first round. She needed 1 hour and 35 minutes to score the win in her first match since the quarterfinal loss to Elina Svitolina at the Wimbledon Championships.

The 22-year-old is chasing her fourth title of the year at the WTA 250 event in her homeland. This also marks Swiatek's second appearance at this prestigious tournament.

The Pole made it to the quarterfinals of the Warsaw Open last year but faced a formidable opponent in eventual champion Caroline Garcia. The event was held on clay in 2022.

Following her first round victory on Tuesday, July 25, Iga Swiatek took to Twitter to express her thoughts on playing in front of her home crowd. She stated that while it is always a great motivator, it also causes a different type of stress.

"Thank you for coming yesterday! It's always a great motivayion but I won't lie to you, it's also a different kind of stress. So on Thursday I'll have another chance to get used to hard court and hopefully you'll enjoy it. See you!" the four-time Grand Slam champion wrote.

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"I had a heart rate of 120" - Iga Swiatek's father reveals his nervousness while watching Pole's French Open final live

Iga Swiatek pictured with her French Open trophy.

Iga Swiatek was denied an easy win by Karolina Muchova in the 2023 French Open final. The Pole emerged victorious after surviving an emotional rollercoaster of a match.

Muchova tried her best to stop Iga Swiatek, but the Pole held on to clinch her fourth Grand Slam singles title and her third French Open title overall. The Czech also became the first player to take a set off the 22-year-old in any of her Grand Slam finals to date.

Tomasz Swiatek recently told Polish news outlet Rzeczpospolita that watching his daughter play live was different from watching her on television. He said that he was very nervous during the match.

"I experienced the Roland Garros final strongly. There are matches when I can be very nervous. It's different at home, in front of the TV, when sometimes I can just cover my face and differently at the match. Sitting on the stand in Paris, I had a heart rate of 120, and it was not appropriate for me to get up and leave," he said.