Iga Swiatek donates Indian Wells prize money to mental health charity on World Mental Health Day
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Published 11/10/2021 at 09:27 GMT
Second seed Iga Swiatek has looked in impressive form so far at the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, dropping just five games on her way to the last 16. Following her latest win over Veronika Kudermetova she revealed her plans to show her support for World Mental Health Day, which was on October 10.
Highlights: Murray digs deep to beat rising star Alcaraz at Indian Wells
Iga Swiatek has revealed that she will be donating $50,000 of her third-round prize money at Indian Wells to a mental health charity in honour of World Mental Health Day.
Second seed Swiatek was in brilliant form as she breezed past Veronika Kudermetova in less than an hour to set up a last-16 clash with Jelena Ostapenko.
Swiatek, 20, has travelled with a sports psychologist, Daria Abramowicz, for the last three seasons and thinks it is important to "raise awareness in terms of looking for help and support if we need it".
"I would say in sports, for me it was always important to use that kind of help because I always thought that in my mental toughness there is some strength that I can use on court and I can also develop in that manner," said Swiatek.
"But I also know everybody has different paths, and it's great that we can choose our path because I know that there are people who also don't need psychologists. Basically, I'm not saying that ‘hey, you should do that if you want to be the best’, because everybody has a different personality and everybody has different needs.
"It's just good to stay open-minded. If you need that kind of help, then go for it. If you're up to it and if you're open-minded, I think it helps a lot.
I would like to dedicate today's win to all the people who aren't OK. And contribute to help them even if only a bit for now. I will donate $50k of my prize money from the third round in Indian Wells to non-profit providing mental health support.
Swiatek said the idea came to her during the match and was partly inspired by Venus Williams’ initiative with the WTA and BetterHelp which provides $2m of free therapy to the public.
“Venus Williams inspired me a lot because when I saw her statement and initiative that was so great."
Swiatek has lost just five games in two matches on her Indian Wells debut and has now made the last 16 or better at all but two tournaments this season.
"I was just feeling pretty confident,” she added. “Again, as in my second round, my tactics worked pretty well. I just wanted to change the rhythm sometimes so she can get a chance to sometimes miss and in some points be offensive so she can feel the pressure.
"But basically, I wanted to make a gift for my psychologist because usually when I lose there is some drama. So let's just say she has the day off today."
Her latest victory came a year to the day after she won the French Open without dropping a set.
Reflecting on the last 12 months, Swiatek said: “I felt like the first period of the year from January to June it was pretty tough because we had many Grand Slams, we had Olympics. I felt a lot of pressure.
"But here I feel kind of free because even though we have the WTA Finals at the end, I feel like I reached my goals and I went even higher than our goals. So I'm pretty happy about that and I feel like I can play without any expectations and just feel myself on court, which is great."
Swiatek has had the chance to chat to Andy Murray at Indian Wells this week after revealing that he would be her dream hitting partner.
Murray invited her for a hit on social media, but the pair didn’t get the chance to share the court together and instead had to settle for a discussion on the side.
The pair spoke for a few minutes, with both laughing before departing to prepare for their respective matches.
Murray beat talented youngster Carlos Alcaraz in a tough three-set match to set up a third-round clash with Alexander Zverev.
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