By Lidia Kelly
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Rankings are meaningless when you play Grand Slam champions such as Emma Raducanu, Iga Swiatek said on Thursday after setting up a clash with the Briton, ranked 61st, in the third round of the Australian Open on Saturday.
World number two Swiatek, who crushed Rebecca Sramkova 6-0 6-2 on a sunbathed Rod Laver Arena in the second round, is seeking her first Australian Open trophy.
Although she already has five major titles, Swiatek’s best performance so far in Melbourne has been her 2022 semi-final loss to Danielle Collins.
Raducanu has struggled with injuries since her 2021 U.S. Open triumph but on Thursday showed strong form to see off American Amanda Anisimova 6-3 7-5 in her second-round clash.
“There’s no point to look at rankings, especially when you have these great players that already have been through great tournaments and won some tournaments,” Swiatek told reporters.
“You know that they can play well.”
Swiatek reigned as world number one for most of 2024 but slipped behind Aryna Sabalenka after a one-month doping ban around the WTA Finals in November cost her points and shook her confidence.
Starting the year as number one, as she did in 2023 and 2024, put her under a lot of pressure from the beginning of the season, she said. After the ban, that has changed.
“I realised last year that I don’t have 100% influence on what happens with my ranking sometimes,” Swiatek said.
“So now I just focus on tennis. If I play well, I know I’ll be back at number one. If I don’t, and Aryna plays better, she’ll be number one.”
Apart from Raducanu, Swiatek still has fourth seed Jasmine Paolini, sixth seed Elena Rybakina and eighth seed Emma Navarro as possible opponents in her half of the draw.
“I only know that I’m playing the next match with Raducanu and I’ll prepare for it,” Swiatek said.
“If I don’t play well the day after tomorrow, I won’t have the opportunity to play with other players.”
Grilled by some pre-teen reporters at her press conference, the 23-year-old confessed that the times she had shed tears after losing matches were among her most embarrassing moments on court.
“Also, I went out on court once in Indian Wells with toilet paper sticking to my leg, like off my skirt,” she said smiling. “Yeah, that was also embarrassing.”
(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Sonali Paul)
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