PARIS (Reuters) – The band Guns N’ Roses helped Iga Swiatek claim her maiden Grand Slam title at the French Open last year. This year, the eighth seed has a whole lot of love for Led Zeppelin as she bids to win a second title in eight months at Roland Garros.
Before every game, the Polish 20-year-old’s routine has her arrive on court with headphones on, tuning out the noise as thumping rock music sets the mood for her to dominate her opponents.
Since last year’s rescheduled slam, Swiatek has now won 20 straight sets at Roland Garros following a 7-6(4) 6-0 third round victory over Anett Kontaveit on Saturday.
Her head-banging soundtrack also helped her win the Italian Open last month with a jaw-dropping 6-0 6-0 demolition of former world number one Karolina Pliskova.
“I have the same playlist as in Rome, so it’s Led Zeppelin right now. Last year it was Guns N’ Roses, right now it’s Led Zeppelin. So similar kind of music but different band,” Swiatek told reporters.
“Off court I started to listen to some Polish music, and that’s new for me because actually I haven’t listened to Polish music ever. It’s really cool, I would recommend it.”
The two bands were popular well before her time but Swiatek was hooked after hearing a popular Led Zeppelin track in the superhero movie ‘Thor: Ragnarok’.
“I think I started listening to them more when I watched ‘Thor’. I listened to them even a few years ago, and I watched ‘Thor’ in Australia,” she added.
“I just started listening to rock, I was browsing and I liked them.”
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
