AUSTRALIAN OPEN

February 14, 2021

Iga Swiatek

Press Conference

S. HALEP/I. Swiatek

3-6, 6-1, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Tough match, what are your initial reactions on tonight?

IGA SWIATEK: Well, I'm pretty disappointed, because first set was kind of like perfect for me. Maybe it wasn't as perfect as French Open, but I felt that I'm playing good, and I kind of -- I mean, of course Simona kind of changed her tactics, I think. And she even said that in an interview that she started playing with more topspin, and that's actually the thing that was hard for me to control my shots.

Yeah, I felt like I didn't have a lot of energy in the second set, so I tried to save it for the third, and third, when I got broken, I couldn't unbroke. So, yeah, it's tennis (smiling).

Q. After that opening set and as she started to kind of shift tactics, what exactly made it difficult for you to kind of counteradjust?

IGA SWIATEK: Well, her shots were much more heavy than in the first set. I think I had to, like, attack her much more times, because she was, like, reaching everything.

And, well, I wouldn't say that the second set was an example of that, because I made a lot of unforced errors at the beginning, and I felt that maybe it's better to already focus on the third. But in the third I give my all. Also, I was making more mistakes than in the first set, but obviously she was playing great.

And I think, you know, she just played, like, really smart, and, like, I have a lot of respect because it seems like she has a lot of options. And when something is not right for her, she just changes the tactics, and that's great. But I think that's the difference between, like, the champions and less-experienced players, because I didn't feel like I had many options.

Maybe I was playing too strong and risking too much, but it was because she was just reaching every ball, and I had to, like, finish five times in one rally.

Q. It looked like towards the end of the third set that you started to kind of find your rhythm a little bit more. That final game in particular when she served it out, you played a series of really good points. I mean, does it give you any -- sounds weird -- but solace to know that she kind of came up with some of her best tennis as well in that final game to kind of hold you off at the end?

IGA SWIATEK: Well, I'm kind of person who is mostly focusing on my mistakes, but obviously I know that she played great. It's hard to, like, see that when you're on the court, but when I tried to analyze it a little bit and when I actually read some Twitter comments, I realized that she was just playing her top game and I shouldn't be, like, too angry, you know.

Q. In the beginning of the tournament, you said that you kind of still need to figure out how to handle your new status as a Grand Slam champion and the pressure and everything. Now that you made the second week, your tournament is over, I'm wondering, how do you reflect on how you handled that part of things in Australia?

IGA SWIATEK: It was much better right now than the first week here when I played WTA tournament. I didn't have any problem with that actually this week, and I feel like even today I was kind of still feeling like an underdog, because I was playing against Simona.

Yeah, I mean, it wasn't bothering me right now, but we're gonna see in other tournaments, because every week is kind of different. I'm not yet that stable to say that I'm gonna, you know, have the same attitude for the rest of the year, but that's our goal and that's what we are working for, so we'll see.

Q. Just reflecting on the start of the season and obviously this tournament, what are the big kind of takeaways for you as you get set to leave Australia?

IGA SWIATEK: Um, I would say -- oh, my God. I don't know. I'm still thinking about the match, and I don't know how to reflect on the whole three weeks.

But I would say, I mean, I would say being patient is like a good thing to do, because after the first week here I was pretty angry with my performance, and I was scared that I'm not gonna, you know, play as good as previous season or maybe as good as only French Open.

But then when I just, you know, loosened up and I kind of enjoyed also my off-court life, it was better and I played better.

So, you know, I knew that even before, because it's kind of like repeating like a circle for me, because, yeah, but it's good to realize that for one more time and maybe next time I'm not going to be so mad when I don't play my best tennis for some time.