By Sudipto Ganguly
LONDON (Reuters) – With her first-round victory at Wimbledon on Tuesday, Poland’s Iga Swiatek went past both Serena and Venus Williams by stretching her winning streak to 36 matches.
She does not believe, however, that the long run of success puts her in the same league as the American sisters.
The 21-year-old has won six titles in a row, including a second French Open trophy this month, and with her 6-0 6-3 victory over Croatian qualifier Jana Fett on Centre Court she became the first woman in the 21st century to rack up 36 consecutive victories.
Swiatek moved past seven-times major champion Venus’s run of 35 wins in 2000 after previously overtaking Serena, who has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles and registered 34 straight victories in 2013.
“Still when I see Serena or see Venus, they seem like… the legends,” Swiatek told reporters. “I don’t consider myself a legend. They seem like the ones, they’re the greatest of all time in tennis.”
A sucker for consistency, Swiatek described her winning streak as “amazing”.
“It just shows how much work we’ve been putting (in) for every match,” she said. “I’m pretty happy that I could show consistency because it was always my goal.
“I didn’t know it’s going to be possible for me to show that much consistency, and actually to win tournaments. But I’m just really happy and I’m trying to use it the best way possible.”
Swiatek travels with a psychologist in her team and thinks that helps deal with the burden of expectations.
“This is a Grand Slam. We have to kind of perform better because the expectations around are bigger,” she said.
“I’m trying to avoid thinking about that and just accept it that it’s there. But make my routines the same way so I feel the same way.”
(Reporting by Sudipto Ganguly; editing by Ed Osmond)
