VIKING INTERNATIONAL

June 22, 2021

Iga Swiatek

Devonshire Park

Press Conference

I. SWIATEK/H. Watson

6-3, 6-7, 7-5

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Just talk us through the match today. Very close. What made the difference in the end for you?

IGA SWIATEK: Well, I think I was just fighting, and even though grass is not the surface I understand completely, I kept believing that I can do it anyway. I have, you know, some weapons that I can use.

When I became more loosened up in the third set, it helped me a lot. I think it's the key when you're playing on grass.

Q. Can you just talk about -- a very emotional win, looked like, the end. We see you win titles. You don't have that reaction. Can you just talk about how you were feeling on match point?

IGA SWIATEK: On the match point, actually I just kept saying to myself, It's just another point. Because I know what to do during the most stressful points. I did it very well.

But, you know, the whole match was pretty crazy. You could see that I have like love/hate relationship with grass. I'm pretty happy that I came back in third set, because I was, like, drifting away a little bit.

Yeah, I mean, sometimes that helps, because you can actually just say, Oh, okay, it doesn't matter. We'll see what's gonna happen and just let it go.

And I did that, and it helped me a lot, because I could actually, you know, as I said, loosen up and play faster forehands. I think it was the big change.

Q. You had those three games or so in that third set where it did kind of look like your feet weren't moving. Yeah, your mind just didn't seem completely locked into things. I'm curious, on a surface like grass, because it can be so frustrating, because the points can be so short and the match can move so quickly away from you, how did you manage that? How do you manage that challenge of trying to stay as locked in as you can when at the same time maybe like, you're right, you need a little bit of a mental break midset to reset?

IGA SWIATEK: You know, I just keep going back to basics and just, you know, not being angry on the surface, because, you know, I know that's not the fault of grass that I lost some points.

But sometimes, you know, I try to be like super low in the legs and the ball was going like that (indicating) anyway. It was hard for me to put any topspin on it, because it didn't really give me anything.

Yeah, it was frustrating, but, you know, I just knew that my game developed since two years ago and I can do more. I don't know. I just really wanted to win and have another opportunity to learn.

Yeah, as I said, I just kind of let it go and just went forward. Didn't see the score actually at the end of the third set, so, yeah, I was really loosened up at the end, and I wasn't, like, in the middle of the match.

Q. First main-draw win for you at the pro level on grass, your third match, how does it feel to get over that hump? After playing three sets today on the surface against a player who is very comfortable on it, what did you learn from this match?

IGA SWIATEK: You know, it's hard to say right now. I have to watch it like and see it from a different perspective, because usually when I'm playing matches and when they are like really tight or when I lose, it's hard for me to see how it looked like actually, because I have like wrong picture in my mind.

I have to like watch the match. I don't know if I'm gonna have the time today or what the schedule gonna be for tomorrow, but I think watching it, it's gonna give me a lot of, like, I don't know, new ideas, because sometimes I feel like on the clay, if I use my plan A and B, I can always come back to just playing topspin and just getting the ball back.

But here it's different, so sometimes I feel like I don't have ideas. But actually, the thing is that you don't need to have idea on grass. Sometimes it's just serve, return, serve, return. You know, some dropshots, slices. Mix it up a little bit, and, yeah, it's good.

So I'm gonna see. I don't know what I learned yet, but for sure, that's gonna be a lot.

Q. You mentioned a little bit about love and hate. Can you run through right now where you're at? What's the love about grass and what's the hate?

IGA SWIATEK: You know, the hate is sometimes when I'm trying super hard to stay low in the legs and it doesn't give me like what I want (smiling). Because, you know, I'm just not feeling so comfortable to always have a good result of what I'm doing.

Also, I sometimes lack in consistency, because, you know, I see that I lost two points, oh, I'm going to change something, but the truth is that after some time you're going to get the result if you're working hard.

So I think, like, in the second set I got really frustrated, but then when I was losing 4-1 in third, I just, you know, I just tried to play tennis and actually learn. As I said, like in past interviews, that I want to learn. If I'm gonna get more and more frustrated, I'm not gonna learn. So that's not a good way.

So I just tried to start from the beginning, and I did that very well.

Q. You talked before the tournament that your topspin really doesn't work on this surface. Does that mean you make technical changes to hit the ball more flat on your forehand side, or do you just kind of realize you're going to get a different response from those balls coming back at you than you would on the clay or the hard courts?

IGA SWIATEK: I mean, I don't have to do technical changes because I know how to play flat. I just don't use it really often. I think I need more changes in terms of like maybe when I'm playing defense, I'm sometimes backing up, like I'm playing on clay, and it's not really working, because then, you know, my opponent is gonna play a slice or a shorter ball. Then you're not there, because it's not bouncing on grass, and you don't have time to go forward.

So I think I need, you know, just to get some experience in things like that, but I think my shots are good when I'm not, like, late or when there is not any tricky bounce, they are okay.

But, you know, for sure it can get better, but I wouldn't expect from myself anything, like, special after just few days on grass. I'm pretty happy with my game, and, yeah, I think this match is going to give me more confidence, so it's cool.