ROLAND GARROS

October 4, 2020

Piotr Sierzputowski

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Were you surprised by her performance today?

PIOTR SIERZPUTOWSKI: Yeah, of course I'm always surprised like if you do this kind of result, but I'm not surprised that she can play like that. I know what she's capable of. I think it was just good plays, good day, good timing, and everything like came together.

I'm really happy about that match.

Q. Since when did you work with Iga, please?

PIOTR SIERZPUTOWSKI: We started cooperation in 2016, right after French Open. So she was a junior player, she made here quarterfinal from the qualifications.

Q. Iga has obviously had great results at Roland Garros, but she also won Junior Wimbledon. Do you think she can play well on all surfaces?

PIOTR SIERZPUTOWSKI: I think she's capable of that, but faster surfaces are let's say a little bit tricky for her at the moment. But she won Wimbledon Juniors because she was so hungry of winning. She came here, she lost in the semifinals in the juniors to Caty McNally, who was a great player. She had two match points so she was really hungry of winning.

She said to me on the way back to Poland like, Coach, I gonna do a practice without a mistake, and she did. She was practicing really hard and she ended. I think she was, let's say at this time, at this certain time at the Wimbledon, she was way better than everybody else, that's why she succeed.

Q. I don't know if you talked about the challenges that you guys faced as a team coming from New York back over to Paris. I know Iga was a little bit upset and told us that she had pretty high expectations for what she might be able to do in New York and felt a little disappointed and sort of needed to kind of I guess you could say reset.

PIOTR SIERZPUTOWSKI: Yeah, I think so. It was really important. Let's say this season is different, and everybody knows it, and it's really difficult for the players to come with no expectation.

So it for sure I think it was a great decision to stop for a little bit. She didn't feel well, she wanted to rest at her head. And I asked for advice, for example, (indiscernible), who said to us, Think about big things. Don't think small. Go for it. And he said, Let's take a rest, go home, reset your mind, come here and compete. And it works perfectly for now.

Q. Can I ask you what do you know about Martina Trevisan? Have you ever seen her playing, if you are surprised the way she plays? And what you think is her best quality of stroke and what is the weak point of Trevisan.

PIOTR SIERZPUTOWSKI: Yeah, I know her very well. Iga played with her two times in the past. So first time was I think 2016 at the beginning of our journey, and Iga lost. But that was like, I don't want to of course say that loud, but Iga was injured before the match. So we had to take, she had to take the surgery, she was out of tennis for six months.

But she came to the court, she compete, she played with her on the grass season, as I remember well last year. So Iga won this match.

I know Martina maybe not very well right now because I know that she's a different player here. So we have to prepare what she's playing here, not what she played in the past.

So I have to watch all her matches to find out the good way to play with her. I don't think it's going to be an easy match. For me right now, I feel that it's going to be the biggest challenge in this tournament. By now it's like you play with player who is lower ranked, who hustle, who fight for every ball, who never gives up. So you have to do this, you have to be ready, you have to be prepared, you have to run more, let's say.

Q. What are Iga's best qualities as a player?

PIOTR SIERZPUTOWSKI: I think she's ready for everything on the court. It's like I have a lot of things to work with her on the technical side and tactical side. We have a lot of space to improve. But overall it doesn't even matter. When she comes to the court and she put the ball right the place where she wants.

So this is the best quality of Iga for me. Like, she can serve big, okay, but sometimes you serve better, sometimes you serve let's say not really good. Then you play better forehand, better backhand. It doesn't really matter if you are able to put the ball where you want.

So you can play it looking weird but you make it. And Iga is the kind of person, for her it doesn't matter if technically it was right right now at the match. It's good, because she's not thinking about small technical stuff. She's more focused on the really basics like getting low on the legs, going forward, like really easy technical simple stuff so she can focus on match, on the competition.

She's a beast of the competition I would call her. She loves to compete, she never likes to practice, so it's boring for her. But when it comes to the matches, she's there.

Q. I know the scoreboard says that Iga's a very much improved player from last year. But what would you say in your opinion she has actually improved? How has she grown as a player from last year at this time?

PIOTR SIERZPUTOWSKI: I think last year match wasn't like really -- I don't know how to call it, objective. Like, it wasn't the score I really supposed to see last year. She was really, really tight. She played much better matches before.

She came to the center court, her first time on such a big stadium and with the such a quality player and she had a lot of excuses, a lot of like things which she shouldn't think even about it. So it was really different match.

I think she could do much better last year, but of course she improved a lot. Her mindset is right there right now. I cannot tell it since the beginning of the season because it wasn't. So she's improving every match. She plays her great quality tennis right now.

I know there are few, few things I would love to improve through the next match. But it's like if your player is loose, like if your player is really enjoying playing, it's easy to improve anything. If somebody's tight and not really believing in what is he doing, it's really difficult.

So I'm really happy that we are here and she improved a lot through this year. She has much more tools to win the matches.

Q. I think you said just now that her mindset has changed from the beginning of the season. What has changed? How did it change? Why did it change?

PIOTR SIERZPUTOWSKI: It's hard to explain, really. Because I saw her in preseason and I was working with her in the preseason, and I saw her playing like never before. So you coming with some high expectation, like you know you can do this, you know you can win matches, you know you can serve well, you can play forehand well, backhand, you can play dropshot, you can play whatever you want. But you come into the match and there is different type of pressure.

So I think at the beginning it was really hard for her, especially that let's say I was calling her semi-pro/semi-amateur in the past, because she was at school, she was studying like regular person. Of course she was abroad a lot of time, but still she was going to school, she was taking her exams. So it was like I always was in the second part of her lifetime. Like I wasn't, the tennis wasn't her, like the biggest part of her life.

So it was always difficult. Imagine that I had to schedule practice in the morning at 7 because she had to go to the school. And I'm asking, like she's coming to the practice tired and I'm asking, Why are you tired? Did you sleep well? No, I was studying in the night.

So of course it's something you can free your mind, but then you put a lot of pressure on yourself because you know you started being pro.

So it's difficult for her. I think she need a little bit of time. But she is a person who, she going to do it once and she going to repeat it one after another. So I hope the holes is not going to be for long and her wave is going to be much better in the future. Because as everybody knows, you cannot perform that well all the time. But you have to perform well when you play bad.

Q. My last question is about the pandemic and sort of the differences that you guys are facing at tournaments. And I wonder, are you guys feeling you have to be a little bit more careful? Is there anything different you have to do now that you're at Roland Garros like sort of avoiding contact with people? I know typically you like to be social and have fun and just relax. But has it changed the way you sort of behave at the tournament at all?

PIOTR SIERZPUTOWSKI: It change a little bit because Iga is not like the person who likes to, you know, all the time going out. She's a person who prefer to stay by herself. So it's not much different for her. But it's different that we are not allowed to go. So it's different feeling. If you choose it or you made to it.

So of course it's different, but you have to get used to it. You knew it when you came here what you are going to be expected to do and what you have to do, so we are here and we fight. That's all.