THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

July 7, 2025

Iga Swiatek

Press Conference

I. SWIATEK/C. Tauson

6-4, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Iga, great performance. Must be very happy with that.

IGA SWIATEK: Yes, for sure. I am not sure how Clara felt obviously, but I just wanted to keep doing my job. For sure even though the beginning was pretty shaky, I found the game later on.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You've become the youngest player to reach 12 Grand Slam qualifies since Maria Sharapova in 2008. What do you think of that? Secondly, do you enjoy hearing these stats and seeing them about yourself?

IGA SWIATEK: What's the stat?

Q. The youngest player since Maria Sharapova in 2008 to reach 12 Grand Slam quarterfinals.

IGA SWIATEK: As I said, every match different stat. I don't even know how to answer that. I'm just happy that I'm so consistent and I could achieve it so early because for sure it's a dream come true. I never thought I would even be able to do that, like, twice, not to mention like 12 times.

Yeah, pretty proud of myself. It's a great way to start (smiling).

Q. I know you've been asked a lot about the movement between clay to grass. Is there something about natural surfaces that maybe are similar or it's completely different, nothing about the movement, ball bounces, that maybe makes you more adaptable to a natural surface? Is it different, natural than hard?

IGA SWIATEK: Well, every court is different. I think the only thing on grass was that you can't slide. And I can't do that on hard court, so I never felt like I'm moving bad on hard court. I just slide better than some players, so I had this advantage on clay.

But on hard court, I'm still a good mover. I think I never lost a match because I moved worse on hard court. I think I lost some matches on hard court comparing to clay because of different stuff, but for sure it wasn't moving.

I guess I can move well on all the surfaces. On grass I just need to change the way I stop before the ball, and I feel like it's going better and better every year.

I don't mind the challenge. Well, for sure it's not the easiest sport when we have to switch surfaces so often, but this is what makes tennis also interesting.

Q. You said on court you're enjoying London a bit more this year, helping you feel more comfortable on court. Could you speak why you feel better here this time and how that's making you feel more comfortable?

IGA SWIATEK: Honestly, I think London has always been great. I'm saying London, but we're mostly staying here. There's no time to go to the city center, but it's just about how I felt on court. I felt this year that I could really develop as a player. I'm doing the job no matter what the results are going to be.

I feel like I'm doing a great job at just learning how to play on grass. First time I feel, like, more comfortable. I feel like the process has some kind of logic.

Every year it's a bit easier. I think I came to this point where it's just a little bit more comfortable. That's why also I'm able to enjoy the life off the court because obviously it's not so easy when you don't feel good. We're here to play tennis. If you don't feel good on the court, you're probably also not going to feel good off the court.

Q. What was your mindset when you were leaving Paris and heading for Mallorca? What were your expectations of this grass court season? Could you envisage yourself at that moment getting to the quarterfinals here?

IGA SWIATEK: Honestly, I didn't think that far. I was happy actually that I'm going to spend my time working on grass on Mallorca because it was a workcation kind of. I also knew I would have time to reset after the clay court season.

I don't know, I was just happy to go in a new place and just be open-minded about the stuff that I need to work on and also accept that it might not be the smoothest transition, as usual. I just focus on the challenge and the next step, and that's it.

I didn't answer because you can't feel good off the court if you don't feel good on the court. Obviously it's a bit tougher when the expectations are high and people talk to you like you're underperforming. I guess this year is just different.

Sorry, it was your question. Sometimes also I didn't want to be a hypocrite because I also feel good sometimes off the court when I don't feel good on the court. It's not like one-to-one. We are not our game. Also, younger players should know that. It's just easier.

Q. You mentioned that you can't really slide on grass. I'm sure you definitely slid on this surface in the past. Someone shared a video of you doing a crazy slide.

IGA SWIATEK: On grass?

Q. Yes, it went viral. Was there a time when you were trying to slide on the surface and you decided it wasn't the case?

IGA SWIATEK: At some points you don't have other options if you're super late and you don't have time to do these little steps. So yeah, probably I tried. Probably it's kind of my intuition to slide.

But I just know that for me, I was never sure when actually I'm going to stop or if I'm just going to go forever. So I see guys and girls, but mostly I've been watching Carlos a little bit and Novak. I see them slide. Obviously it's possible, but you just need to kind of trust it, I would say.

Since I never played, like, so many matches on grass as this year, I also never had time to really, yeah, trust it.

Q. Your next opponent was saying she didn't want to know who she played when we talked to her earlier today. I don't know if you ever had similar superstitions about who you are playing?

IGA SWIATEK: I need to know. I need to prepare.

Q. Do you want me to tell you?

IGA SWIATEK: I know. Liudmila. But she doesn't know she's playing me?

Q. She didn't want us to tell her who she was playing next. Does that surprise you? She says she overthinks about it.

IGA SWIATEK: I get it. We don't have so many matches anymore to not know kind of, I would say. You don't have many options in quarterfinals.

Q. The locker rooms are pretty empty right now.

IGA SWIATEK: Well, there are two locker rooms, so it depends which one (smiling).

Well, at some point she must know, right, because she needs to prepare, right?

Q. Eventually she'll know.

IGA SWIATEK: I'll tell her (laughter).

Q. Do you ever talk to opponents before matches and say, Hey, we're going to play each other tomorrow, it should be fun?

IGA SWIATEK: Not that way. Well, there's no point to small talk. What are we going to talk about, right?

Q. Where you going to serve?

IGA SWIATEK: It's mostly like, Hi, see you later. That's the most you can do.

Q. What are your thoughts from the encounters previously with your next opponent? What are your expectations and the challenge for this one?

IGA SWIATEK: Well, I know she can play great. We played some tight matches. I remember the one in Stuttgart, it was super intense. Yeah, she's a player that likes also fast surfaces.

It's not a surprise for me that she can play well here. She also had some upsets, winning against the big players. She's pretty experienced. For sure it's going to be a challenge.

She's in quarterfinals, so she's had a great tournament already. She knows how to play here. I'll just prepare the same way as before any other match, and I'll be ready.