AUSTRALIAN OPEN

February 8, 2021

Iga Swiatek

Press Conference

I. SWIATEK/A. Rus

6-1, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Walk us through your first-round win today.

IGA SWIATEK: That's not an easy question. I could talk for, like, 20 minutes, but...

Basically I felt much better than during my first tournament here, much more confident. Even though I had some doubts because I played against Arantxa Rus in Rome, and that wasn't a good match for me, I think I started from a brand-new position. Yeah, I just wanted to dominate on court, and I did pretty well, so I'm happy.

Q. You talked about feeling like it was a brand-new day, new tournament. Talk about how that translated, that mindset, into how you played.

IGA SWIATEK: Basically I tried to only think about playing and not other stuff. I was singing in my head to keep my mind busy, focusing on little things. I say that basically on every interview. Sometimes it's easier to do that, sometimes not. I felt that it was easier today than on tournament before.

Yeah, I just played good tennis. Maybe I made some decisions that weren't perfect, like some of the dropshots, but it's also first match of the tournament. I hope I'm going to be playing better and better next round.

Q. You had great success not just in Paris, but posted success at the slams in the past. Do you feel like a different player when you're at the majors?

IGA SWIATEK: That's a good question because actually I wanted to focus more - not more - but have the same attitude on WTA tournaments as well as Grand Slams. Well, I don't know how that happens but I always play better on Grand Slams. Maybe it's, I don't know, preparation, maybe it's just the perfect time for me to play.

Yeah, my goal is to be consistent, so I want to play good on basically every tournament. For me I'm really happy I play efficient on Grand Slam. Well, it shouldn't be, but it is in the back of my head the most important tournaments. I try to treat every match the same way, but it's different on Grand Slams (smiling).

I'm going to be working on that still. Maybe that's going to change in a few months or years. But right now I'm happy that I can play good tennis.

Q. What are you singing in your head?

IGA SWIATEK: Today It Takes Two, Marvin Gay. So not rock for the first time.

Q. To what degree does what happened when you won a major come into your mind when you play other matches? What does it do for you?

IGA SWIATEK: Well, it came to my mind like during previous matches last week. Today it was different. It was easier for me to focus on just being here, just playing a match.

Basically sometimes it gives me, like, confidence because I know I can play great tennis. But usually it's, C'mon, you're making much more mistakes than on French Open, you were playing better then.

I saw finally what I can do, and somehow in the back of my mind I expect to play always like that, but it's impossible.

It's about managing expectations. Usually thinking about French Open isn't, like, really good for me. I try to treat every tournament as a different story and I think it's good.

Q. You play Camila Giorgi next. Talk about the challenge of playing her.

IGA SWIATEK: We played two years ago. Two? Yeah, two years ago. It was in the second round actually. I remember it was a really tough match for me because that was the first match that I played with a player who plays so fast.

So I think I made a progress since our last match. It's going to be easier, but also I'm going to be really -- sorry, I forgot the word. I'm going to be, like, prepared for everything because she can play really great tennis, really fast. This surface, it's going to help her.

I mean, it doesn't matter. We're going to see what's going to happen. I'm going to be tactically prepared. I'm going to be ready for anything, yeah. Just going to play my tennis.