Swiatek loosens up for Roland Garros with Dua Lipa concert

There's been a lot of chatter surrounding three-time defending Roland Garros champion Iga Swiatek, and what form she'll take into the tournament she's dominated for nearly the entirety of the last five years. But the World No. 5 was happy to tune out the noise by making a pit stop to singer Dua Lipa's Radical Optimism Tour in the days ahead of the year's second Grand Slam.

The pop star crossed paths with professional tennis on her third concert tour, which had a two-night stay earlier this week at the Paris La Défense Arena. Taking some time out from her pre-event preparations, which included practice sessions with Daria Kasatkina, Jasmine Paolini and Aryna Sabalenka, and participating in the official draw ceremony, Swiatek cut a relaxed figure as she watched Lipa sing from the rafters.

Posting a video of herself dancing while watching Lipa sing hits like "Training Season" and "Electricity," she recalled her earliest memories of listening to the London-born Albanian singer on repeat -- ones that are also closely tied to tennis.

"I still remember when almost 10 years ago I was traveling from one tournament to another and 'Be the One' was constantly on the radio," Swiatek wrote. "All the time. And I loved it. It was so, so great to be able to see Dua last night live in Paris. What an amazing show. Another memory in the books."

But here's why loosening up at a concert might just be an X-factor for Swiatek in Paris.

Meeting the media Friday ahead of the start of the main draw, Swiatek spoke about how she arrived in Paris early following a third-round loss at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia to Danielle Collins. The Pole has not reached a final since winning Roland Garros nearly 12 months ago -- the longest such streak of her career.

She feels the key to ending that will come from shifting her mindset.

"After Rome, I had a lot of time to think about how I played and what my attitude was," she said. "So for sure, I focused on changing some stuff. ... These are things that any athlete, needs to work on. I would say sometimes it's easier; sometimes it's harder. I got to the point where I knew I needed to change something in my attitude and maybe get a little bit more energetic before the matches.

"So yeah, I think just, you know, coming to that conclusion and accepting it and understanding it helped a lot, but for sure, the main work I will have to do on matches now to change that a little bit. But on the practice court I have been playing great. My tennis is good, you know, so just need to do that on the match."

Swiatek will no doubt be hoping that a return to happy haunts will spark a reversal in recent fortunes, after seeing her ranking drop outside the Top 2 for the first time in more than three years. As the fifth seed, she's projected to face No. 4 seed Jasmine Paolini in the quarterfinals -- in what would be a rematch of last year's championship -- and a showdown with World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in a potential semifinal.

"I love playing tennis here," Swiatek added. "I feel like just good here. And off the court, it really feels like home. I have my places and my routines. It's just fun, you know. I would say all of it. I just like coming back here."

Swiatek will face Slovakia's Rebecca Sramkova to start her tournament, as she seeks to extend her Roland Garros winning streak to 22 straight matches.

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