"I know there's gonna be a lot of pressure on me, but there's no sense to talk about it" - Iga Swiatek downplays expectations for Paris Olympics

Iga Swiatek recently spoke about her Olympic aspirations and the prospect of winning the elusive 'Sunshine Double' for the second time ahead of her campaign at the 2024 Miami Open.

The World No. 1 has dominated the WTA Tour for the last two years. She has won multiple Majors and 1000-level events, and she even secured her maiden WTA Finals title in 2023. Only one stellar achievement eludes her now: a gold medal at the Olympics.

Against that background, Iga Swiatek was recently questioned about whether going all the way in the 2024 Paris Games, which will begin on June 26, was a priority for her. While the 22-year-old did respond in the affirmative, she put the quadrennial event on the back burner as she wanted to focus on performing at the preceding tournaments.

"Well, yes, they are in the plans. I mean, it's a priority, honestly. But for now, there are so many tournaments before that, I'm not really focussing on them (Olympics). They're on a different surface, you know, different continent," Iga Swiatek said during her pre-tournament press conference. "So, for now, I'm taking everything step by step. I don't have any expectations because I know how tough this tournament is. And how hard it is to handle it sometimes?"

"I know there's gonna be a lot of pressure on me because it's clay, it's Roland Garros. But honestly, I was in Tokyo. I've been through all this, you know, Olympic vibe even though it was in COVID times, you could feel it," she added. "And I just hope that I'm going to do a better job at managing it. But, you know, in terms of the performance, I think there's no sense to talk about it because it's a long time until the Olympics."

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Iga Swiatek on winning her second Sunshine Double: "I don't feel like we should talk about ifs"

Iga Swiatek poses with the 2024 BNP Paribas Open trophy

Iga Swiatek is coming in hot from her last week's Indian Wells triumph, where she didn't drop a single set in her six matches. The World No. 1 is now bidding to repeat her 2022 feat of completing the Sunshine Double by prevailing at the Miami Open.

During her pre-tournament presser, the Pole was informed by a journalist that she could join Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer as the only players to complete the Sunshine Double more than once. She hesitated about relishing the prospect of joining the exclusive club though, maintaining that it wasn't an "easy task".

"I don't feel like we should talk about ifs. You know, I'll do everything step by step as usual. No need for me to like, go and already think about winning the trophy 'cause I haven't even practiced her yet," Iga Swiatek said. "I still have many matches to play, so, we're gonna see how it goes. Obviously, it'll be a dream come true, it's not an easy task and I felt like I overachieved it two years ago. So, this time I'm gonna do everything as usual. I think that's the best way to go."

Having received a first-round bye, Iga Swiatek will open her campaign against World No. 107 Camila Giorgi in the second round of the WTA 1000 event.

The two players split their last two matches.

While the lower-ranked Italian beat her in straight sets in the second round of the 2019 Australian Open, the Pole returned the favor at the same tournament two years later.