Find Iga Swiatek a good book and a sprawling quiet park and she’s all set for the perfect wind-down between the serious matters of a Grand Slam title tilt.
It has worked a treat for her en route to four Roland Garros trophies in Paris before, so a spot of ecotherapy among Melbourne’s expansive green spaces makes sense – just reward for sweeping past fellow major champion Emma Raducanu 6-1 6-0 in the Australian Open third round on Saturday.
The world No.2 was in an especially ebullient mood having dominated the opening act at Rod Laver Arena, and her efficiency even allowed extra time on match day to soak up one of the city’s well-established parks.
“I try not to stay in the hotel too much because, I don’t know, every time I’m just at home [in Poland] it’s so cold and so grey and cloudy that I use every opportunity now to just go out and enjoy Australia because I feel like the world has better colours here,” Swiatek said following her 70-minute routing of Raducanu. “Everything is brighter and more fun.”
The 23-year-old acknowledged she felt decidedly fresher than her previous two campaigns at Melbourne Park and it showed from the outset against the world No.61.
In the only third-round showdown between two major champions at this year’s Australian Open, Swiatek pressed early and despite missing break points in the second game, she looked completely at ease.
Revered super coach Wim Fissette has only been on board since October, but his calming influence has already started to rub off on his charge.
“Even when the effect is not perfect, I don't mean today because this match was kind of perfect for me, but on a practice court or something when I'm struggling, I feel like he gives me a lot of support and understanding,” Swiatek said.
“It has to click in every aspect for me to play well. For now it does, so I feel more relaxed and I feel like for sure with my game a bit more confident than last year, for sure.”
That only spelled concern for her hopeful opponent. While only a year younger, Raducanu has struggled with injuries and the enormous weight of expectation to repeat her US Open 2021 feat, and this was by far the highest-ranked player she has crossed at a major.
It quickly shaped up to be a tough day out and under pressure off both sides, she was found wanting on serve.
The last time Swiatek fell to an opponent outside the top 50 was to then No.76 Elina Svitolina in the Wimbledon 2023 quarterfinals.
There was never any threat of a repeat on Saturday.
In the first set, she returned first serves 15km/h and second serves 12km/h faster and her average forehand topspin rate of 2877rpm was more than 1000rpm more than Raducanu’s.
“I wouldn't say I'm ruthless,” she said. “I just try to have the same kind of attitude and same kind of focus no matter what the score is.
“But it's not like I want to, you know, show something. I'm just playing my game. If it's working, why stop? I’ve also seen many matches when someone was back being down like 2-5 or something. You always have to just keep going. It's not over till it's over.”
Since the start of last season, Swiatek had won 61 of 63 matches after taking the opening set, including her past 18 such matches.
It was a long way back from here for the Brit. She had registered just one win from eight matches after losing the first set against top-10 opponents and she was only claiming little more than half her first-serve points and less than one in five on her second serves.
In complete cruise control, Swiatek was in a hurry to get back to nature and finished with 24 winners to book a fourth-round showdown against German lucky loser Eva Lys, a three-set winner over Romanian Jaqueline Cristian.
“For sure I found some nice places in Melbourne,” she said. “It's important because you just have to enjoy life off the court to play good, also to find some kind of distance to everything.
“If you're just focused on tennis, then it suddenly becomes life-or-death kind of thing. It's not like that. It shouldn't be like that. It's just tennis. It's just a game.”