MUTUA MADRID OPEN

April 24, 2025

Iga Swiatek

Press Conference

I. SWIATEK/A. Eala

4-6, 6-4, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Second time you played Alex, obviously a different outcome from Miami, just overall thoughts on the match.

IGA SWIATEK: Well, for sure I'm happy that I won. From the beginning I didn't play smoothly, but I managed to solve some problems, and at the end I won.

Q. I think you were practicing after the match? Do you do that a lot? Why did you feel like you wanted to practice after the match?

IGA SWIATEK: Well, I just felt like there are some stuff I need to work on, and it was the best to do it right after, you know, so the body can remember the good movement. Yeah, we worked for like 30 minutes on the court, so it's good that I had the opportunity to do that.

Q. Do you feel like you want to reset or something, because it wasn't a short match either, I would say, so I'm just wondering, does it help you come in here after doing that and feeling good about what you were doing on the court?

IGA SWIATEK: Just, you know, what I said, kind of just remembering, sort of for the body to remember the good stuff rather than what happened on the match sometimes. So, yeah, that's it, like there's no point to overanalyze it.

Q. In the first set it seemed there was some uncharacteristic errors from you, where did you feel that was coming from?

IGA SWIATEK: Well, for sure, you know, it was my first match here, and from what I remember it was never so easy to adjust to the altitude here. And, you know, the first practices I played here was much colder. Yesterday it was hotter, but we only had like one hour to do stuff, so it wasn't exactly the same feelings as I had on the match.

The balls were for sure flying a little bit out of control from my racquet, so I got the tension a little bit higher in the second set, and then it was better. But still, yeah, like when you're not starting well it sometimes takes a little bit more time to find your game, but then I did so I'm glad.

Q. Yesterday you told you would let us know how you felt on court today, so could you tell us how you felt in the beginning of the match when Alexandra led, took the first set, and how you regrouped and what adjustments you made to come back strong in the second, especially at 4-all, and then ran away with the third set.

IGA SWIATEK: Well, I don't know exactly, because I felt like I was making too many errors from everything, so there wasn't like one specific adjustment. For sure I wanted to keep my margins and play a little bit more safe, to just play more balls in because I was making some unforced errors that weren't really necessary.

So, yeah, but for sure, like, yesterday you asked me how different the game is going to be, and for sure, like, on clay I feel like I have a little bit more advantage sometimes in the situations, where Alexandra could, you know, take more advantage on faster hard courts.

Q. Going into the match today there was a lot of talk and hype about your opponent, and maybe some people thought there was a chance for an upset given what happened in Miami. How conscious were you of that, and does that sort of thing motivate you, have any effect?

IGA SWIATEK: I understand that there's hype about these young players, but, you know, you got to be focused on yourself. And, honestly, I didn't realize it, I kind of had better things to think about.

Q. As a player, your match times are obviously often dictated by the match before you, and sometimes if, I don't know, someone loses match points or something it can be a long time, you can have to warm up multiple times. Curious, how do you feel, like what's the weirdest situation you've had of that, where you're warming up multiple times and it's really difficult?

IGA SWIATEK: I think the weirdest ones I had were on Roland Garros, because I played after some night's men's match, and obviously it can be three setter or five setter. So, yeah, I had to, I don't remember the exact match, but also I was playing after the semis of Aryna and Muchova. So, if you remember well, like Aryna had 5-2 and then lost in the third set, so I think I was warming up like seven times, literally. And also, like, I don't know, it was a roller coaster of emotions, from being stressed, to really like not giving a damn what's going to happen in the match, you know, before, and then warming up again, being hyped up, and then being sleepy. So it was all, yeah, I think it was the longest preparation I had before the match like that.

Q. You're someone who, I think you like your routines, and you like to know how things are, so how do you manage those situations when it's out of your control and it's an unknown?

IGA SWIATEK: Well, honestly, doesn't matter, because I still can keep my routines because we also have some, I mean, I also know what to do in situations like that. So, you know, no need to overanalyze, you just need to get hyped up again and that's it. But also not waste too much energy from being ready like one hour before you actually step out on the court.

Q. For the first set and a half what was the data, because you were missing shots that you would never miss, and it looked like you were searching what to do at some point. How did you manage not to lose it out there and find a way to control what you could?

IGA SWIATEK: Yeah, well, it wasn't easy, and it wasn't, you know, positive always, because obviously, as you said, I know how I can play, and for sure I wasn't playing my game. But honestly, like, I don't know, just last weeks haven't been easy overall, so I'm just trying to kind of take it easy sometimes, and just look only at the next point, you know. Just trying to find some confidence and, you know, just not, I don't know, not like kill myself with these thoughts about the previous games and previous points. Because, yeah, like, I am missing a lot, but there's no point in going over again with my mind about it.

I know that I'm close to finding my nice rhythm. For sure, like I feel like I was close in Stuttgart. Here I came, you know, I also had some other stuff going on. So I'm just going to try to like focus only on the next point and that's it.

Q. I've been talking to players about how much control they feel they have over major decisions in their careers, because like from the outside, for us we think you're the bosses of everything and you can do whatever you want. But there's sometimes contracts that stop you from doing certain things, or if you want to change a racquet but you can't, or it could be anything, really. You want to miss a tournament, but your sponsor wants you to go, all of these things. In your opinion, is that something that you struggled with at all when you started up until now, and at what point did you realize that that's a big part of being a professional tennis player?

IGA SWIATEK: Well, honestly, I am fortunate enough to have partnerships that kind of fit me. So it's, obviously, like, I do all the stuff that I would need to do anyway. Like, I love driving with Porsche. I love wearing a Rolex. The same with Lancome, doing that as well. So obviously I love all of it, so it's not like I'm forced to do stuff that I can't.

About the scheduling, I think my sponsors they understand, and if I would need to not play some kind of event, there wouldn't be any situation where I would be forced. Because you know, health or preparing for some other tournaments comes first, and we know internally in the team how to find the best way.

But obviously, like I think the WTA is kind of forcing us more to play the events, even when sometimes we would pass them. And the rules about, you know, for getting a zero in the ranking when you're going to miss some tournament. So I think this is more unfortunate rather than like remembering to not drive any other car (laughing). Because, at the end, like, I think it's important to have partnerships that fit you, you know. I think that's the only way to go.

Q. I think there were points, both of you today there was a situation where you saw a mark on the court, but then the electronic line calling said something else. Certainly Alex, she was quite upset about one of them. How strange and how difficult is that when you can see a mark saying one thing, but the screen says another thing?

IGA SWIATEK: Well, honestly, when I came to the marks I realized that I reacted too quickly, because the actually line calling was actually right, you know. I don't know about this serve that I served and she was arguing, because I didn't see the mark. But, yeah, I mean, the electronic line calling can make a mistake, but like we can't overrule it anyway, and the umpire can't as well.

It is strange, but, yeah, like when I saw my marks that I thought maybe she played out, they were actually in. So even if I were to call the umpire to check it, I would be like, Okay, like don't do this, because I can see when I come closer it's in. So maybe I hope I'm not going to have a situation like that during the tournament later on, but yeah, we can't overrule it anyway.

Q. Did you have a preference on clay for electronic line calling or not?

IGA SWIATEK: Well, honestly, this is one of those things that you guys ask us, like one-week tournament or two-week tournament, electronic line calling or not. We just have to follow. There's no point for us to pick our favorites, because then, what? You prefer to play with umpires, but you go on court and have electronic line calling? There is no time to have your mindset in that way, so I'm just going to accept whatever there is.