WESTERN & SOUTHERN OPEN

August 16, 2023

Iga Swiatek

Press Conference

I. SWIATEK/D. Collins

6-1, 6-0

THE MODERATOR: Do you want to give us your thoughts on the match, how you felt out there?

IGA SWIATEK: Well, for sure it was a really solid match and I felt I'm not doing a lot of mistakes. I'm happy I didn't give anything for free.

Yeah, just kind of I could be proactive and not really, you know, overanalyze everything, just go for it. I'm happy that I did that.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. A tough match against Danielle last week. Were you able to take anything into that this week, given how different the conditions are here from Canada?

IGA SWIATEK: Well, I wouldn't say I thought about the conditions a lot, because honestly, I knew that it wasn't possible for me to kind of get used to them. I kind of went on court without many expectations. Just knowing that I have to play what's going to be possible for me that day, because I only practiced yesterday for, like, hour and 15 minutes.

For us, the priority between tournaments is to recover well, for me to be fresh. I will try to kind of catch up in terms of the conditions and my feeling during the tournament, if that's possible.

For sure today it wasn't like the perfect situation, but I knew that I already had plenty of, you know, quick transitions between tournaments in my career and it was fine, so I will just try to do it one more time.

Q. This has been a tough tournament for you over the years. How important was it to have a good performance like this to start?

IGA SWIATEK: Yeah, I think this is the first one (smiling).

No, I mean, I remember 2019 I played a pretty good tournament, but I went from quallies. Totally different situation. But for sure last year I didn't feel confident in Toronto, Cincinnati, so it's a big progress for me. I feel like it's going to give me a lot of confidence.

You know, it's just kind of easier to work on everything when it's going a little bit more according to plan. I'm happy that I can play better tennis this year.

Q. Your footwork is looking impressive, like you're the best WTA player on the tour, the best athlete. What's your preparation with Maciej Ryszczuk? What's your routine, schedule?

IGA SWIATEK: Well, you know, years of work, so it's hard to describe that quickly, but Maciej is a great specialist. For sure without him I wouldn't be in that place. He's a physio and conditioning coach in one. So he, like, knows everything about my body, and that's why he's the best kind of man to know what kind of practice to do that day, you know.

But for sure, you know, it's been tough this season to have a lot of practice days and practice weeks. So we're kind of catching up and not practicing a lot on tour, because I have to stay fresh for matches.

But I think, you know, what we are doing in preseason and these little periods before the US Open swing or before the clay court swing, it's giving me a lot and it's lasting for a long time. It's nice to know that I'm, you know, one of the best players physically on tour, because it also gives me, you know, a lot of confidence. Sometimes when I'm in trouble, I can always lean on that.

So for sure Maciej is doing a great job. Maybe I shouldn't say that because somebody's going to steal him from me (smiling).

Q. When did you actually decide that it was best to prioritize rest and making sure that you're...

IGA SWIATEK: It's not me deciding. That's why I'm still alive (smiling). It's more, like, yeah, my coaches, Maciej and my main coach, Tomasz. Also Daria sometimes has something to say if she sees that mentally I'm also more fatigued. You know, we're kind of aware that it's going to happen. It's in the second part of the season. So I need to deal with that.

You're never going to be 100% fresh, but it's the same thing we did after Madrid before Rome, and, you know, for me, it's just easier to give more on court if I feel like I have energy.

Q. You were featured pretty heavily in the second set of Break Point episodes. I wondered, if you watched it, what your sense of the series was and...

IGA SWIATEK: I only watched my episode. Sorry.

No, like, it was kind of weird watching myself on this big TV show. But, yeah, for me, the whole experience was really nice and I learned a lot.

I also learned that I'm not 100% comfortable with cameras following me around, so I still need to kind of focus on my stuff, and maybe in the future I'm going to be more ready to take more of this responsibility on my shoulders.

But, yeah, well, I think it's great that we have something like that in tennis. On the other hand, from our perspective when we watch the show, we know sometimes a little bit more and we know that this is the show also for people who don't know a lot about tennis, you know.

I totally get, you know, why they are doing stuff like that, but there was some stuff that I wanted to be included -- for example, the exhibition in Krakow -- but it wasn't. So it was kind of sad for me. But overall, yeah, it was a nice experience and I learned a lot about myself.

Q. Did they film you in Krakow?

IGA SWIATEK: Yeah, they did. Honestly I wasn't one of these players that agreed to everything, because I didn't want the crew to kind of be, I don't know, at my house or, you know, shooting with my family a lot.

But I showed a little bit of, like, my private life. We showed, like, few things with my sister. But I guess it was pretty tight, because it's hard to, like, have a normal conversation with your sibling in front of the cameras, you know, (smiling). That's why I also thought that it's kind of maybe I'm not ready for things like that yet.

But they were in Krakow, and I think the atmosphere there was so great that it would be worth it to show it and also, you know, the other side of the kind of involvement that some players have with helping Ukrainians and Ukraine.

So, yeah, it's shame that they didn't show it, but maybe it's better to ask them why. Maybe didn't fit the episode or the storyline. Yeah.

Q. You just won a tournament in Warsaw, a 250. Next year the WTA is trying to have the rule that top players are not going to be able to participate in those tournaments. What are your thoughts about this?

IGA SWIATEK: Well, it's going to be possible for defending champion or for somebody who is playing at home, which is pretty positive. But overall, well, it's a business strategy, so I didn't really dig deep into that, what's the reasoning behind that.

In my plan usually I don't have 250s. I only have them, you know, because it was in Warsaw and preparation before Wimbledon, for example. So I don't think it's going to influence my schedule a lot, so I haven't thought about that a lot. But for sure having the rule that you can play at your home country, I think it's better, because you can attract more people to watch these tournaments.

Q. Another question on sliding. You do a lot with the open-stance backhand. That's where some players who do slide struggle with that. Wondering what is the challenge of that? Do you think more players will see this generation doing it and it will become even more popular?

IGA SWIATEK: I don't know. Oh, my God, your questions are too hard for me (smiling). It's hard for me to kind of analyze their abilities, you know, physically.

I know it makes sense also to not slide, but it's the way I run and I never really thought about that a lot. It's just, I don't know, for me it's like the best way to transition energy to my shot as well.

But, well, it's kind of challenging to find the balance and to, like, not, I don't know, lean on the ball when you're sliding. But I don't know what's going to happen in the future.