THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

June 26, 2021

Iga Swiatek

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Did you ever follow up with Andy Murray about that practice on grass? Did you get a chance to speak to him since you messaged on social media?

IGA SWIATEK: We actually spoke yesterday just for a second because we were both going the same way to the practice. I joked maybe we're going to the same practice (smiling).

But, you know, I assume he's pretty busy. Playing with a girl probably would be some kind of a waste of time for him because, you know, he's much stronger and obviously he needs to play with some guys. I'm not bothering him, especially before Wimbledon.

Maybe that's going to come up again, but really he's such a nice guy, it's just nice to talk with him and to meet him. It would be great to play with him, but I don't want to be too high maintenance.

Q. You've spoken a lot about your sports psychologist in the past. I wondered whether you use data, analytics, statistics much? If you do, how do you use it?

IGA SWIATEK: Yeah, yeah, we work with a guy who is analyzing matches for us, who is doing all the statistics. We started doing that, like, I don't know, at the beginning of 2020 season. Usually it's my coach who is in touch with him.

That's really important because I'm the kind of person who needs someone who's going to convert all these statistic information into good advice. My coach is doing that basically.

I think it's working pretty well because in other sports it's been, like, obvious that you're using sport analytics to help you with some stuff. But in tennis it's kind of new. I'm pretty happy that we started that. I think it's good to have all the information that you can get just to have more.

Yeah, I'm pretty happy. That was actually my coach's idea. I didn't even know that it's, like, possible because I wasn't aware that there are some people who are doing that.

But, yeah, I think it's working out pretty well.

Q. Novak Djokovic and Vasek Pospisil were talking about organizing the PTPA, the players association they're leading, saying they wanted to get involvement from the top female players as well. Have you had any conversations with Vasek or Novak about that?

IGA SWIATEK: I haven't, so sorry. There's not much I can say. I just haven't. I don't know a lot about that topic.

Q. You've enjoyed junior success on grass at Wimbledon. On the women's level, you pretty much only played eight matches in total on the surface, including quallies. Coming to Wimbledon as the No. 7 seed, as a major champion, how do you deal with your lack of experience on the surface as a pro while also feeling confident about your game?

IGA SWIATEK: I just don't look at rankings basically. On grass there is some kind of, like, separate ranking because you know who is playing well on grass, you know usually is bad on grass.

Even though I'm, like, seventh seed, I don't give myself more pressure because I know that I don't have experience. I just try to learn as much as possible. I'm just aware that I haven't been practicing on grass for a long time because I played finals of doubles on Roland Garros.

It's important part of the season, but it's more important for me to learn and not to get any, like, huge results because I think the work that I'm going to do here is going to give effects in a few years. Yeah, you just need experience on grass basically.

Yeah, actually it's kind of nice because I can play without any expectations. After all that fuss that was around during clay season, during Roland Garros, as I was playing as the defending champion, it's just easier actually. I'm enjoying it.

Maybe my tennis is not going to be as good as on other tournaments, but I'm feeling great and I'm pretty happy to be here and to have opportunity.

Q. As a young player and a young major champion, what are your thoughts on players such as Roger Federer and Serena Williams competing at such a high level as they approach their 40th birthdays?

IGA SWIATEK: Well, I just have a huge respect for them. I was actually thinking about it, if I'm that kind of a player who is going to finish sooner or maybe I'm going to play, yeah, down. But it's great they can play on the highest level at that age. It shows that their whole career was basically led in a very smart way, that they were able to do that. I have such a great respect for that.

I think it's great that we have NextGen and all these players are coming up, also players are really experienced. It's a great opportunity to be on the same tournaments as the G.O.A.T.s. Yeah, I'm pretty happy about that.

Q. You've watched a lot of Rafael Nadal matches. He's a player who has found a way to translate a game on clay to grass, heavy topspin, all that sort of stuff. Do you see stuff when you watch him play on grass that is stuff you can apply to your own game?

IGA SWIATEK: Well, the thing is that I haven't watched him on grass basically. I was thinking about that today on my practice, that I should watch more matches. If you play only three weeks on grass per year, you need something more to get experience.

I think watching matches is going to give me a lot. How do you say in English? We have football match today, Euro. I don't know if I'll find time.

For sure in next weeks I'm going to be watching a lot of matches, not only Rafa but especially girls because doing what Rafa is doing is sometimes impossible for womens. I'm going to watch Simona for sure and her run when she won. Yeah, I'll try to find some experience from that.

I'm actually not the best person to analyze matches and see everything when I'm just watching on the computer screen or in the TV. It would be much easier to watch live. I think it's going to give me a lot so I'm going to start that. I'm going to let you know what are my thoughts later (laughter).

Q. Your first round opponent, Hsieh Su-Wei. You are very familiar with her in singles and doubles. Can you try to describe the magic of her, how she makes you feel on a tennis court.

IGA SWIATEK: She's just unpredictable so you have to always be ready. There are some players that can play solid and just hold the ball sometimes. But she's the one that is going to come up with some crazy idea, which is great. That's why it's so fun to watch her. But it's hard to be on the other side of the net.

Obviously I played against her on clay last year. Here I think it's going to be different. I mean, for sure being really, really low on my legs is going to help. I remember when I played with her on Roland Garros I did that already. Here probably I'm going to be, like, even more low. It's going to be a hard match.

I just think that if my game's going to be there and if I'm going to be in a good rhythm, if I'm going to approach the ball and not be late to many of the shots, I think I can do it. We'll see, yeah. It's going to be tricky.