World No. 1 and US Open champion Iga Swiatek speaks to CNN at the US Open tennis tournament, in New Orleans, Louisiana, on Wednesday, November 14, 2018.
Iga Swiatek says she is happy with her game, but her body is breaking down from the rigorous season she has been on.
The Australian Open champion is also the fourth-ranked woman in the world and has become the second woman to win the title.
Swiatek also is the first Canadian to win a senior singles Grand Slam title (WTFN: Canada’s Kiki Bertens won the Australian Open in 2016).
Swiatek has had to cope with back pain that would interfere with her tennis, and she hopes there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
“I think every athlete wants to win,” Swiatek said in an email to CNN. “And when you do, it feels as good as any other win. I’m just happy to be a part of the journey.
“I’m grateful to be at the top of my sport and to have my life back after an injury. I’m just happy that my body is back to full health.”
Iga Swiatek is a champion in her own right. In August 2017, she became just the second woman to win the Australian Open as she beat the top-ranked American Sam Stosur to claim the title.
She became the first Canadian to win the women’s singles title.
Swiatek was diagnosed with a herniated disc in 2006 and underwent surgery to remove it in 2008. She withdrew from the 2011 French Open in protest of the new anti-doping regulations, though she had qualified for the tournament a year earlier. She was diagnosed with a torn fibula in 2012 and had surgery to repair it in August 2013.
Swiatek also suffered a torn labrum in 2008 and underwent surgery on her shoulder in 2012 to fix it, and she has had two spinal surgeries in that same year and 2013.