When I was a kid, I was told that to be a champion, it has to be tennis or nothing.
But for Iga, tennis was actually Plan B.
She didn't quit school to turn pro.
In fact, her family prioritized grades over practice.
She rejected the typical hype motivation and even told her coach at her first big event,
I don't belong here.
Today on The Insight,
we explore the counterintuitive mindset that took Iga to world number one and being one of tennis's greatest champions despite being only 24 years old.
Next week, we are releasing an episode with a special guest.
Hit the subscribe button on this platform to make sure you don't miss it.
You hear these people saying they grabbed the racket at age six and they already knew or something,
but it wasn't like that.
Honestly, at the beginning I had no idea why I'm doing this.
It was more like, you know...
I went to school, I went to tennis practice, you know, it was on the same kind of level,
like it was something that I just did and it was a routine,
but I think I started believing when I was like 15 or 16, so pretty late I guess, is it?
So until then you were going to normal school?
Oh no, I always went to, I finished high school like in a normal way.
Well I missed a lot of classes obviously but it wasn't like an internet school or anything.