Footage of Iga Swiatek seemingly getting ‘hypnotised’ by a tennis ball ahead of her French Open final win has gone viral after she landed the title in Paris.
The Polish world No.1 barely broke a sweat as she swept past 12th-seed Jasmine Paolini on Saturday to register the fifth Grand Slam trophy of her career.
Her win means Swiatek has joined Justine Henin and Monica Seles in becoming just the third woman in the Open Era to win three Roland-Garros titles in a row.
Swiatek, 23, sunk to her knees and waved her fists at her team before dancing around the court after she wrapped up the victory on Philippe-Chatrier.
But it was footage just before the final that fans have been loving on social media, with one video appearing to show Swiatek getting ‘hypnotised’ in her warm-up.
‘Iga Swiatek getting hypnotised by a tennis ball as part of her match prep?’ one tennis fan asked on Reddit. ‘Does anyone know what she’s doing here?’
There was an amusing response from @nozinoz, who referenced Swiatek’s dominance in women’s tennis and said: ‘Practicing her telekinetic powers to land the ball in or out at will.’
‘In order to hit the ball, you must become the ball,’ @Jo__Jo__Jo added.
A third user @shdwflyr poked fun at the comparisons between Swiatek and Rafael Nadal and said: ‘Repeat after me: I am Rafa. I am Rafa.’
Two users provided more serious responses to explain what was actually happening in the clip.
‘Stretching eye muscles,’ @Downtown_Bit_9339 explained. ‘Novak [Djokovic] does it too during his matches, by looking close and then far before receiving the serve, for his eyes to adjust and stay focused on the incoming serve more easily.’
‘In sport and tennis especially you use many senses, especially sight,’ @Mario_x9 posted.
‘It’s sort of practice for for sharpening sight, eyes focus and reaction time. Possibly also calming down while practicing. It’s not uncommon.’
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