French Open winner Iga Swiatek urges athletes to 'try and see' how working with sports psychologists could boost performance

Warsaw: Having a sports psychologist helped Polish teenager Iga Swiatek win the French Open, and she thinks it can help others, too. The 19-year-old Swiatek said Wednesday she drew a lot of support and strength from her work with sports psychologist Daria Abramowicz, who was with her during the two weeks of the Paris tournament. “The psychological work is very complex and continues all the time. Daria understands me very well and we talk a lot,” Swiatek said. “You should not think that a psychologist is for people with problems, I think he is also for people who want to develop. “The work that we do with Daria may not be ideal for everyone, because not everyone would be ready to allow a team member into their lives, but my advice is to try and see how it works." Swiatek became the first Polish tennis player to win the title at Roland Garros on Saturday. She said her success is starting to slowly seep in and she will have to get used to media attention. At the French Open, Swiatek also reached the semifinals in the women’s doubles tournament. As a fan of men’s singles champion Rafael Nadal, and speaking about possibly playing in mixed doubles tournaments, she said she hoped the Spaniard would “see the potential of this relation.” Their paths already crossed in Paris this year. “On the first day of the tournament I was warming up playing football with a friend and Rafa’s bodyguard told us to stop, but seeing this he (Nadal) just waved his hand to show we should continue playing and I appreciate that very much,” Swiatek said. At the French Open, Swiatek lost only 28 games in seven matches and became the first woman to win the title in Paris without dropping a set since Justine Henin in 2007. She is also the first teenager to win the women’s title at Roland Garros since Iva Majoli in 1997.