UNITED CUP

December 28, 2022

Agnieszka Radwanska

Iga Swiatek

Hubert Hurkacz

Daniel Michalski

Magda Linette

Kacper Zuk

Weronika Falkowska

Lukasz Kubot

Alicja Rosolska

Dawid Celt

Team Poland

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Team Poland, welcome to Brisbane. How excited are you to play the United Cup here and to represent Team Poland?

KACPER ZUK: I am super excited to be part of the team here. We have such a great players. We are looking forward for the matches. We try to enjoy these next couple of days and we try to play our best.

WERONIKA FALKOWSKA: Yeah, it's really nice place here. We will enjoy our time, for sure, in Brisbane. Yeah, we will try to show our best tennis on the court.

LUKASZ KUBOT: Hello, everyone. Is this the question for everyone?

THE MODERATOR: I give another question only for you. How fun could it be or how excited is it to have an event, have mixed for the first time and have that kind of format for the first time together?

LUKASZ KUBOT: Yes. Hello, everyone, first of all. We are very excited to be part of this new thing, which is United Cup. We had experience before to play in the ATP Cup, now it's United Cup. I think it's a great thing, and we are going to continue this for the next years.

I'm very pleased to be with the Polish team, especially right now it's big boom in our country with tennis. I'm very happy again and pleased and excited, Hubert, to be here. I hope we're going to enjoy every minute here in Brisbane. Thank you.

ALICJA ROSOLSKA: I'm also very excited that I'm part of this team, and I think it's amazing that playing after so many years on tour we have first time combined event that we can play as a team not only girls but also guys together.

So I think it's going to be some new experience, and I hope we're going to have a very fun and good atmosphere and also a good result too. I'm looking forward to start the matches, and for this week a new adventure.

DANIEL MICHALSKI: I don't know what I can add. Everybody just said that they are excited. I'm excited too. That's a great achievement that I'm here with the team, Team Poland, represent them, and what can I say? Go Poland.

CAPTAIN CELT: I agree with my friend and my team. I'm excited as well. I promise that we are a going to do, going to play for next days our best tennis, and I hope we're gonna enjoy, going to get a nice ride. This is my first time in Brisbane, so I'm looking forward to go to sightseeing to see some new places, because before we went sometimes to Sydney, to Melbourne, but first time in Brisbane.

MAGDA LINETTE: Yeah, yeah, I'm absolutely loving the format. I think we had such a great time on every single Fed Cup and then Billie Jean King Cup. I think having guys with us now it's going to be something a little bit different. I'm really looking forward to it. Thank you.

HUBERT HURKACZ: I think everyone said all the things they can say, so just, yeah, pumped for the team and we will try our best.

IGA SWIATEK: Can we get another question?

THE MODERATOR: How have preparations been with the team? How ready you are for the team?

IGA SWIATEK: It's the first tournament of the year, so it's always going to be tricky. But it's so nice that we are going to be able to kind of share the experience with our teammates and have them on the bench and support us a little bit, because it's just different.

I feel like it kind of breaks the routine a little bit, because we are so used to like playing on our own, and just being on tour that these kind of events they make it really special.

So hopefully we are all going to enjoy it and just, I don't know, like integrate a little bit more, because I think it's going to be fun.

THE MODERATOR: How does it feel being captain and representing such a great team?

CAPTAIN RADWANSKA: Well, myself, I'm very happy to be part of the team. Myself, I had a great experience playing Hopman Cup for the two times and winning that event as well. I think it's going to be really interesting one, combined, ladies and gentlemen all together. I think it's going to be a lot of good tennis the next few days.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. (Question off microphone.)

IGA SWIATEK: I'm super proud of myself. I feel like a huge satisfaction, because I have been working my whole life to get to this point. I didn't really think it's like possible for me. For sure when Ash retired, I felt like mixed emotions because I felt like she still has the best tennis out there, so yeah, actually, hopefully maybe this week we are going to be able to meet and I'm going to say it straight to her, but she really inspired me to work harder and her different, I don't know, game style made me realize that there is always like room for improvement.

Even right now I feel like there is a lot I can change and improve and I'm pretty excited that even when I had, you know, such a nice season, this year I can do some different stuff and participate in events like that. Yeah. I don't know if that answered your questions, but...

Q. After Ash retired, you almost inherited, I suppose, that No. 1. But you went on to have an incredible record-breaking year. Did you feel you almost needed to, not justify, but was there any feeling that you needed to really do well given the manner of getting to No. 1?

IGA SWIATEK: Well, for sure. At first I felt like I wasn't sure if this is kind of my place to be, you know. Ash, she seemed like a huge role model for everybody in terms of, you know, her behavior on court but also off court.

So I felt like she really put like -- how's it called? It's good now I have team behind me. She really set the bar pretty high, so I need to like show it to people but also show it to myself that I'm in the right place.

Q. You have certainly done that. Is it going to be tough to stay there?

IGA SWIATEK: Well, thank you. It's always nice to hear that, but, you know, at the beginning of this year, I'm going to try to kind of cut off everything that happened last year and just focus on the future, because I feel like I can take a lot of experience from these tournaments last year, but I don't want to really like hold on to that too much, because I want to go forward and kind of focus on my next goals.

For sure all these press conferences are going to kind of remind me of everything, but my goal is to just focus on the future and try to improve as a tennis player.

Q. Iga, I know you are center of attention being world No. 1 at the moment, but being here and your teammate mentioned a big boom of tennis in Poland, would you like to take some credit for that. Maybe your teammates can weigh in on how much Iga has boosted the game.

IGA SWIATEK: Well, you know, it was always kind of my goal to make things more popular in Poland. We are still a country that is more focused on football, soccer, whatever you call it. Yeah, well, my goal is to make it more popular.

I feel like all of the success that we have with Hubi, as well, and what the legacy kind of that Aga, like, brought, I think it's really adding up and we can make a great work in making our sport more popular and more available to kids.

Q. The boom of tennis in Poland, it's something, watching you a lot, Iga, and also Hubi and Aga, there's always Polish fans everywhere in the stands no matter where you play in the world. I'm not sure what you know about how many Polish fans there are in Brisbane or if any of you played here, but they always seem to come out and there always seem to be Polish flags in the stands. Do you imagine it will be the same this week?

CAPTAIN RADWANSKA: I never played here, so I don't know how it is going to be. It was never in my schedule, that's why I'm happy for the first time in Brisbane. I really hope there is going to be a lot of Polish voices, a lot of Polish flag in the stands, yes.

Q. Do you know why they always seem to come? Do they travel or is there just a lot of Polish players around the world in other cities? That seems to be a real bonus that you guys have when you compete.

CAPTAIN RADWANSKA: Well, I think they live here. In every countries we have a lot of Polish fans. I think when they have opportunity to see Polish players in action, live, they are coming. That's why maybe we can see them pretty much everywhere.

Q. Hubert, John Millman I think said the other day the Dunlop tennis balls they will use at the Aussie Open might favor the likes of you and Nick with the big serves, the light balls. Do you buy into that, or what do you think about that?

HUBERT HURKACZ: Well, I mean, definitely the conditions are quite fast, and usually it's pretty quick. I never played well there so maybe this year.

Yeah, obviously it's going to be when the balls are light it's tougher to return, and it's also a little bit tougher to control the ball from the baseline. So, you know, it's whoever is going to be the best is going to win.

Q. You have got the possibility of playing Nick possibly in this tournament if you guys make it through the finals or...

HUBERT HURKACZ: That's quite far. That's a long way, a week.

Q. Or at the Australian Open. You've got a very good record against him. Would you like to think if you go up head to head against him again you will continue your success?

HUBERT HURKACZ: Well, I mean, Nick is obviously unbelievable player. He had a really great year last year, and it's super tough to play against him in any condition. Especially here in Australia, I think every Australian player plays here really well. I think that gives him a lot of energy. Yeah.