Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff have revealed that they drew inspiration from American figure skater Alysa Liu's remarkable comeback from burnout to Olympic gold. Liu retired at 16 after the 2022 Beijing Games citing burnout, but returned to win gold at the Milano Cortina Games last month, ending a 20-year Olympic medal drought for the United States in the women's event.
Speaking ahead of the Indian Wells tennis tournament on Tuesday, Swiatek said: 'I think overall what happened in figure skating was super interesting, from a psychological point of view. I saw Liu winning when actually she had some troubles, like before she was burned out and she had to stop, and now she seems like everything she does, she does to have fun and to really show her amazing skills in a way that makes her happy.'
Gauff, who burst onto the scene as a 15-year-old qualifier at Wimbledon in 2019, said she could relate to the pressure Liu faced. 'I think her whole story was super inspiring and I could highly relate as someone who was very young put into a sport,' Gauff said. 'I wouldn't say I've faced burnout, but there are times you're mentally just tired of it and you feel like you're doing stuff and you don't know why.'
Liu returned to skating in 2024 with more creative control over her music, programmes and costumes, and went on to win the world title in Boston last year. Swiatek added: 'I haven't spoken to her ... but it's really inspiring. I'll remember it for a long time.'
