CHENNAI: After Poland had beaten the newly-minted FIFA men's world champions Germany in October 2014, news started to do the rounds. Poland's win — their first victory ever over their neighbours — came as such a pleasant shock that the government decided the next day would be a national holiday (the next day happened to be a Sunday).
Almost eight years later, football is still the king of sports in Poland. But one 21-year-old woman is challenging that hegemony, Iga Swiatek. Having won three Slams and creating several records in the process, it's easy to see why even in a country that has enjoyed some tennis success — Agnieszka Radwańska (former world No 2 and Wimbledon finalist in 2012) and Jerzy Janowicz (former world No 14 and Wimbledon semifinalist in 2013) — Swiatek has put tennis front and centre.
One only has to listen to Magda Linette, who was Polish No 1 for a few years after Radwanska retired. Linette, the third seed at the ongoing Chennai Open, says 'tennis is booming in Poland' right now. "We had a No 2 and now No 1 in the world. And a top 10 in the men's (Hubert Hurkacz).
Right now, it's booming. I think Aga (Agnieszka) started it and with Iga now, it's absolutely exploded. I hope that it's going to be something really nice. It's going pretty great and I hope there will be more young boys and girls playing tennis.
"When Iga was starting, we practised quite a lot. Now, obviously, she's in some other galaxy. (laughs) But yes, we are friendly." Off late, Linette has been sending a lot of congratulatory messages to her compatriot, who's nine years her junior. " (do you stay in touch?) I did send her a congratulatory message after every win... which is almost every week (laughs). You can call that as staying in touch, yeah (laughs)."
Swiatek's rise has also put the focus on women's sports in Poland. Linette, who has reached the third round of all four Slams, was very intimate to a question on how Swiatek's fame compares with that of Robert Lewandowski, the national team forward who plays for Barcelona in La Liga. "I think with Iga it's unbelievable how it's shifting and this is wonderful to see," she said.
"It was not only about Lewa (Lewandowski), it was more about the whole general idea of football, volleyball, handball, ski-jumping... it was always men's. And now with Iga, she's actually doing something really amazing because right now we have so much publicity as women and this is really wonderful. On such a big scale, to be so close to Robert, I think she's the first one and that's amazing."
But she's quick to credit Radwanska because it's harder to be the first at something. "Aga was the first one to do what she did, she found the way... Aga was instrumental, she did something unbelievable."
When the conversation shifts to Linette's own career, she reveals that she's already planning a life post tennis. She is hoping to be a businesswoman, an entrepreneur.
"I am trying to be," she said. "I am already 30 and so tennis is not going to last for much later in my life. I am trying to find new things. I am a woman, I am from Poland, so I try to... I am actually somebody who has been out (of Poland) for so long so I have so much experience and so many different skills than people have when they're growing up. I think I have very valuable assets and I am trying to use them and hopefully build something that when I'm done with tennis, I still have something going on."
One of the ideas she has is promoting women in sports. "I have a couple of things in mind, getting interested in more areas, trying to get experience in a different field and hopefully figure out how we can promote women in sports better."
In the here and now, the third seed's immediate task is tackling the unseeded Oksana Selekhmeteva on Thursday for a place in the quarterfinals.