"So many things on the internet that are weird and not really true" - Iga Swiatek on her relationship with social media & managing expectations

Iga Swiatek recently shared her thoughts on whether the discourse on social media surrounding her form ever brings a burden of expectations on her.

Swiatek is currently in Stuttgart, where she will be defending her 2023 Porsche Tennix Grand Prix title. The Pole has won the last two editions of the WTA 500 tournament and comes in as a firm favorite to do the three-peat this week.

During her pre-tournament press conference, Iga Swiatek was quizzed on how she deals with the heavy expectations of her fans back home. Despite the 22-year-old regularly doing well on the women's tour, she admittedly strays from using social media for long periods of time, as even one loss of hers' gets blown out of proportion.

"Well, it's pretty easy for me to cut off all these things that are, like, screaming these things, like social media or everything," Iga Swiatek said ahead of her Stuttgart Open campaign. "During the tournaments, I try to not go there too much. I'm just posting my stuff and not really going on Twitter or Instagram.

"Actually at the beginning I kind of had to force myself to do it. Now it feels comfortable. Now there's actually so many things that I really don't understand on the Internet that are weird and not really true, it's better for me to stay away from it a little bit."

The World No. 1 further added that she doesn't concern herself with the pressure of outside expectations, as long as she plays her A-game.

"In terms of the expectations from the outside, that's it. But I have my expectations. I would say if I feel like I didn't manage expectations well overall, it's because I didn't manage my expectations," she added. "The ones from the outside, they really don't matter that much because I made huge work to manage it and to not really care about them.

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Iga Swiatek on fans' criticism: "Still sometimes it hits you, especially when you're tired"

Iga Swiatek looks on during Poland's BJK Cup qualifier match

During the press conference, Iga Swiatek did concede that she gets caught off guard by the criticism of her results after a tough campaign.

"Still sometimes it hits you, especially when you're tired and you know you did your best, but still people are scrutinizing you," Iga Swiatek said. "They don't know the full truth, what's going on off the court, as well. Sometimes it's not easy."

Towards the end, the 22-year-old asserted that no player is perfect and that fans must be more understanding of the various issues that factor into their defeat

'I already kind of understand how the world works, and I'm not expecting that it's going to change," she added. "For sure it would be nice if people remember that we're still human. Yeah, it's not possible to win every tournament."

Iga Swiatek is in sublime form in 2024 thus far. The Pole has accumulated a 24-3 win/loss record this season, the highlights of which came during her title runs in Indian Wells and Doha. Having received a bye in the first round of the 2024 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, she will face either Elise Mertens or Tatjana Maria in her first match in Stuttgart this week.