Although there are many examples of toxic family relationships among public figures and in tennis in particular, the Świątek family does not seem to be one of them.
In April this year, when Iga won the WTA 500 in Stuttgart including the prize of a Porsche, the tennis star announced she was giving it to her father.
Tomasz Świątek is himself a successful sportsman, having represented Poland in the 1988 Seoul Olympics in rowing. This week, he spoke to the Polish Press Agency (PAP) about his relationship with Iga.
PAP: After Iga's victory last year in the French Open, Iga thanked you publicly saying that it was her Dad who "taught her how to be a professional in sports" and how to be "self-confident". How did you manage to motivate her at the same time preserving a healthy relationship?
Tomasz Świątek: It's true that since both my daughters were small, I have done my best to make sure our mutual relationships were as open as possible - that there are no secrets between us or topics we need to avoid. I have often heard other parents scold their children, "You better keep quiet - you're too small or young to understand," "That's none of your business," or "You wouldn't understand." In our home we always talked things through together.
But it was not always plain sailing. I remember in 2018 when Iga won her first junior grandslam title. I got the impression she thought she had achieved it all, had reached her peak. And for a few days she was on a bit of a high and behaved a bit like a bit of a star. But I knew she had to get back to training. So we had a more serious chat to bring her back down to earth. I explained that of course this was a big success but it was only the beginning.
Sources: sport.tvp.pl, PAP
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