MASTER THE MENTAL
Iga Swiatek is a three-times Grand Slam singles champion, who boasted a phenomenal 37-match winning streak last year. But her 75-week stint at the summit of women’s tennis came to an abrupt end with defeat to Ostapenko at the US Open in September, and a roaringly in-form Sabalenka stole the top spot from her.
Plotting her return to No.1, Iga is working with her sports psychologist and Polish compatriot, Daria Abramowicz, who she’s worked with since 2019. We spoke with Daria to find out how she guides Iga through those high pressure moments and the techniques she’ll use to get her back to #1 spot.
“Don’t overthink. Don’t second guess, it won’t do you any good.”
WHY DID YOU BECOME A SPORTS PSYCHOLOGIST?
DARIA ABRAMOWICZ: I was an athlete myself: I sailed from the age of six, then I was a sailing coach for more than ten years. When I was 15, I began to try to understand the way sportspeople operate; it’s more than just preparing, training and competing. I broke my wrist when I was 18 and stopped sailing, so I went to study sports psychology, anatomy, physiology and anthropology in Warsaw; it helps me when I’m connecting the dots as a performance psychologist. That’s a huge asset.
WHY DID YOU GET INTO TENNIS, AND WHEN DID YOU START WORKING WITH IGA?
D.A: I have experience in road and track cycling, swimming, alpine skiing, ski jumping, chess, track and field, football and volleyball. Then some junior players, parents and coaches were asking for consultations and that’s how I started with tennis. In February 2019 the people who were taking care of Iga’s career asked if I was willing to meet and work with her.
IGA WON HER MAIDEN GRAND SLAM SINGLES TITLE AT THE DELAYED 2020 FRENCH OPEN, 20 MONTHS AFTER YOU BEGAN WORKING TOGETHER. WHAT AREAS DID YOU ADDRESS IN THAT PERIOD?
D.A: Getting mature, growing up, creating solid foundations. What we try to do — and this has always been my philosophy — is create solid foundations, which are connected to self-worth, self-confidence, creating and maintaining meaningful relationships based on mutual trust and respect. Also, emotional regulation: understanding our emotions and working on emotional intelligence and confidence. That’s the process that occurred between February 2019 and October 2020: we were working on solid foundations.
IGA LOVES MATHS AND HAS EXPLAINED THAT SHE USES GEOMETRY AND ANGLES TO HER ADVANTAGE ON COURT. IS THAT PART OF HER MENTAL TRAINING PROGRAMMES?
D.A: Iga was advancing at maths in high school and it was pretty easy to acknowledge that these are the areas that might be good to develop. It’s fundamental for every athlete to improve cognitive abilities, especially in this modern world when we’re surrounded by new tech, screens and mobiles. Using Lego and puzzles keeps the mind occupied and enables the athlete to focus on detail. It’s important to work in a therapeutic way and at the same time optimise performance. Sometimes finishing an exercise with a particular result [is important], especially with athletes who are very result-oriented. It gives them a sense of control and self-efficiency. But there are a lot of things that are open-ended, which is valuable in understanding how life works; life is not a project that you can finish.
“Using Lego and puzzles keeps the mind occupied and enables the athlete to focus on detail.”
WHEN THE PRESSURE RISES FOR IGA — IN THE SECOND WEEK OF A SLAM, SAY — DOES THE PRESSURE RISE FOR YOU TOO?
D.A: There’s no room for it. I’m a human being, so of course I’m stressed, but it’s different if you’re able to regulate the stress. I’m not affected by the pressure while working.
THE TOUR SCHEDULE IS RELENTLESS. HOW DO YOU AND IGA MANAGE ALL THE TRAVEL AND TIME-ZONE CHANGES?
D.A: Travel is a very cool part of my work. Tennis is probably the sport that changes time zones and continents most frequently. How do I sleep? It’s almost impossible to maintain healthy habits and day-night rhythm while changing continents so frequently. There are many challenges because of the travel, but we create routines and healthy habits so [Iga] is able to recover, maintain a healthy work-life balance and use energy on-court or in the gym. Now the tournaments are getting longer [seven of the nine Masters 1000 series now feature a 96-player singles draw], it’ll be more and more relevant to focus on that.
WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT IGA?
D.A: One of her biggest assets is being very fierce and having incredible fire and determination to constantly work and push herself to be better. At the same time, even at a young age, her ability to understand what real work-life balance means.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU OFFER A CASUAL TENNIS PLAYER IF THEY HAVE, SAY, A TENDENCY TO DOUBLE FAULT AND THEIR BRAIN BEGINS TO LOOP THE LOOP?
D.A: Simplify. Use the acronym KISS: Keep It Simple, Stupid. It’s a little joke, but what I mean is when you’re double faulting and starting to spiral, play the simple thing. Use the tool that was working throughout practice. There was one thing working for the whole time, so stick to it. Don’t overthink. Don’t second guess, it won’t do you any good.
Words: WILLIS BENNETT