AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 18, 2023

Iga Swiatek

Press Conference

I. SWIATEK/C. Osorio

6-2, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Iga, congratulations. Back into the third round. Can you just give us your thoughts on the match today and your performance.

IGA SWIATEK: Well, it was really intense, and, like, pretty physical. I think it was much tougher than what the score says. Camila, she's a great fighter. She didn't give me many points for free but I'm happy I was solid and I could finish it.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. You often talk about making sure you get outside during tournaments and really experiencing nature. When the weather is this bad, what do you do? Do you suck it up and go out in the rain anyway?

IGA SWIATEK: Well, yesterday I did (smiling).

Yeah, tonight probably I'm going to stay inside. I don't know what I'm going to do yet. I have whole day.

Doesn't really matter. Tomorrow is the next day. Tomorrow, is the weather better or...

Q. A little.

IGA SWIATEK: We'll see, we'll see. I'm flexible, so I can also stay in bed and watch TV shows.

Q. You mentioned in the post-match interview having to hide under a tree for about half an hour. Wondering where in Melbourne that was.

IGA SWIATEK: I'm not going to tell you. That's my spot right now. Not far. Not far.

Q. What did you hide under to avoid the rain?

IGA SWIATEK: A tree in the gazebo.

Q. Half hour, did you have to just stand there and wait?

IGA SWIATEK: Probably in my head but more likely 10 minutes.

Q. This sport is really built along rivalries. Do you look at the landscape and sort of try and figure out, is this one going to become my big rival, is this one... Is this something you crave and really desire?

IGA SWIATEK: Not really, because I feel like our journeys are pretty, like, a lot of unexpected things happen, you know, so it's kind of hard to predict where we're going to be in like two years, you know.

But, no, not really. Like I feel still that, you know, I'm younger than most of these girls that are in top 10 right now. I don't feel like that. I'm just, for sure I feel like against some players, I don't know, like, Jessie, I played, like, five or six times last year. It feels like we just, you know, played a lot. We know each other's styles pretty well. But I don't treat it as a rivalry.

Q. You've played Bianca. Good chance you might play her in the next round. You played her in Rome last year. What do you remember about that? Secondly, does it seem really tough to be playing somebody as good as her with a record as a Grand Slam champion in the third round?

IGA SWIATEK: Well, what was the last part?

Q. Playing somebody like Bianca who is a Grand Slam champion in the third round.

IGA SWIATEK: Well, the thing is that we have many Grand Slam champions right now. So with Bianca, she's a tough opponent. Third round of a Grand Slam, you know, it's not like somebody's going to beat her by coincidence. She can play great tennis. She's really solid.

I wouldn't really look at our matches on clay, because it's different. I remember in Rome it was our only match basically on WTA Tour, I think. We played in juniors a couple of times. Clay is different, especially in Rome where it's really, it's like the slowest surface on tour.

So it's nice that I know how she's playing a little bit, and I know how her ball feels on my racquet. But there's not, like, many tactical stuff that I can get from that match. We're gonna prepare like we are a new chapter.

Q. This is the first time that you've come into the new season of the WTA Tour as the World No. 1, and a runaway World No. 1 at that, after the last season. How do you relish those new challenges of starting a season as the player to beat?

IGA SWIATEK: Well, it's not easy, because with that number, like, the expectations are a little bit higher from outside for sure, but also for myself a little bit. I'm trying to manage that properly. Also trying to kind of stay in my bubble during the tournament so I'm not going to get distracted by all of that.

Yeah, as I was saying like two days ago, I think that I don't want people to like kind of take for granted that if you're World No. 1 that you're going to win everything because we still have to fight for every match and we still have to be really ready for everything.

So I'm trying to do that, but I don't really think that ranking play, you know -- it doesn't really matter what ranking I have. I want to for sure use my experience that I gained and I know that I can handle a lot, but on court it's just about tennis.

Q. You had mentioned you had the same playlist for two years and now you changed it. What is it changed to and what are you now focusing on?

IGA SWIATEK: What are the songs?

Q. What playlist have you changed it to?

IGA SWIATEK: It's still rock. Just different songs. Red Hot Chili Peppers. Wait. What is it actually?

Well, it's a new one. That's why I don't remember. I think Black Sabbath is there, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin but different songs than before, and Lenny Kravitz. Different but still the same kind of stuff.

Q. Does it help you finding your rhythm in the tournament to avoid some of the scheduling problems other players...

IGA SWIATEK: Which problems?

Q. The scheduling uncertainty.

IGA SWIATEK: For sure, I'm in a pretty comfortable position that I was able to, you know, play this match and I knew that it's going to be under the roof so it's not going to get rescheduled.

Yeah, but, well, I think it's really bad for the players that had to wait yesterday whole day here because it's really tiring, and they probably are going to have to stay another day on-site.

Well, there's nothing I think the tournament organizers can do, but I'm surprised that they didn't put yesterday's matches, like, earlier today on the stadiums, but I don't know how it works, honestly. Maybe they had to, like, maybe they have like TV rights to put, I don't know, seeded players or whatever on the stadiums. I don't know.

Q. Physically you have been pretty healthy throughout your career. Do you think that's a matter of luck or hard work?

IGA SWIATEK: Oh, it's not a matter of luck. Yeah, we're just working pretty hard for me to like be in a good shape and I have a really good physio/conditioning coach, Maciej Ryszczuk, and basically he's one of a kind, honestly. He's just really good and really good specialist. I have like complete trust in him. I think it's because of that basically, because since we started working I didn't have many problems.

Q. Just on today's match, facing Cammie who can grind and is physical and can be very smart with her court sense, curious how you problem-solved and worked your way through the match, what was kind of the game plan going into it? Through it, did you have to make adjustments in terms of pressing a little bit more or pulling back?

IGA SWIATEK: Honestly, we never played each other, so I also didn't know what to expect. But I knew like overall her game style and what her base is. I really wanted to be solid in my, you know, approach shots and not, like, try to play every approach shot faster and faster, because then I'm going to take more risk.

I knew that I just have to be patient. Well, there are some tactical stuff, but it wasn't different and against most of the players. The only thing that was different is I know she's gonna fight till the end and she's not going to give anything for free. Even at the end of the match, I felt like she felt like she has nothing to lose, and she really used that situation well and just, you know, played some pretty flat and pretty surreal shots. Yeah, she made some good decisions, as well.

I'm pretty happy that I was solid, and that's the most important thing for me.

Q. I understand you read a lot. Wondering what book you were reading during the tournament. When you got caught in the rain, if you took a photo if you could share it with the organizers when you're hiding out in the rain yesterday?

IGA SWIATEK: Why would they do that?

Q. I just thought it would be interesting... And what book were you reading?

IGA SWIATEK: I don't know the English name. It's like -- wait. Sorry. I can't find it. It's like about a girl from Afghanistan. It was a best seller like five years ago. I don't know why I'm looking at Courtney, but I have a feeling that you know.

Q. (Off mic.)

IGA SWIATEK: No, I already read that.

They were sisters, and there was one girl that kind of had to pretend that she's a boy when she was younger because the family didn't have a son, and right now I'm at the point where she has to get married with like 40-year-old guy.

I'm pretty sure that Courtney knows what I'm talking about. That's the book. Sorry.

Q. Back to the match, your returning today was unbelievable. You broke her six times. What was the key in terms of for you, what did you do before the match? How much did you analyze Camila's serve? How pleased are you with your ability on return today?

IGA SWIATEK: Well, I'm not analyzing a lot. It's usually my coach who does the whole like statistic thing, and he just comes to me and tells me what to do, because I think if I would analyze by myself, it would distract me more.

So I'm more focused on technique, and I really wanted to -- I wasn't really overthinking it, you know. I knew that even if it's not gonna be like a perfect return, I can always win the point by a rally. I just really felt solid, and that's all.