AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 24, 2022

Iga Swiatek

Press Conference

I. SWIATEK/S. Cirstea

5-7, 6-3, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: How does it feel to be through to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open?

IGA SWIATEK: Really good. I mean, right now I'm pretty tired, so I think I'm going to celebrate maybe tomorrow in the morning. Yeah, it's very satisfying, satisfying week, because I just feel like I did a lot of work to win these matches.

THE MODERATOR: Questions?

Q. You were saying on court just about your emotions you were feeling at the end of the match. Can you explain a bit more about what the sort of feeling of it being over was for you and what it meant?

IGA SWIATEK: Well, for sure she put a lot of pressure on me. So, yeah, I mean, I just had to overcome some doubts that I had. I did that pretty well, because I don't have like a good statistic in terms of like coming back after losing first set. So it's still something I'm working on.

These kind of matches are going to give me a lot of confidence for the future, because, you know, coming back from losing in first set and against a player who's constantly going forward, it's pretty hard, and I did that.

I feel like just, you know, I can approach these different scenarios on court and at the end it's pretty positive, you know. Yeah.

Q. It's been more than one year since you won the French Open, big title. Do you feel like now you are comfortable with the way you are now?

IGA SWIATEK: Yeah, I mean, I was comfortable even right after French Open. For sure it was pretty hard to, I don't know, to expect something, because I didn't know how my life is gonna look like. It was hard to adjust to all that stuff that I had to do and my new obligations.

But it wasn't like, I wasn't really overwhelmed for so long, because we did a pretty good job of -- I mean, I did with staying chilled out and staying just focused on the work, and my team of being behind me and securing me from all the stuff that I could do wrong.

So, yeah, I feel pretty comfortable (smiling).

Q. Obviously after you win a slam, there is a lot of pressure and expectation to win one again soon. A bit of time has passed. Has that pressure and expectation just eased a bit now?

IGA SWIATEK: You know, I'm still 20, so I feel like I have time. Kind of just winning a Grand Slam at that age is pretty weird, because there are many players who are working for it for many years. I feel like even when I won, I felt like I'm not even aware of what it takes, you know, for other players to do that.

And for sure winning second Grand Slam is going to be more similar to that, because, you know, when I had that French Open run, it was all pretty surreal. Right now I feel like I really have to work for it if I want to win another one.

Yeah, I'm giving myself time, because still, I feel like I have been doing this process of, you know, developing as a player step by step, but then Grand Slam happened. So I had to adjust and maybe do it a little bit quicker. But right now I feel like I can come back to doing everything step by step and calm and pretty solid.

Yeah, so I'm doing that. I mean, I can see by my results that it's a good way to go.

Q. On your results, you have made the second week of every Grand Slam since you won the French Open, which is pretty incredible. What do you think is the key to that consistency, and how much pride do you take in that? It's the longest streak anyone has in tennis right now.

IGA SWIATEK: Really? Are you kidding me? I always wanted to have some kind of, you know, streak or like best result that somebody can get, so I'm pretty happy about that.

But do I have it already or do I have to...

Q. Currently. So of active streaks, yours is the longest. Not all time.

IGA SWIATEK: Yeah, that's what I thought.

Q. Not all time. But actively, 200 players in the tournament, you can look at all of them and say they can't do what you do.

IGA SWIATEK: Okay. I was really happy about that, but then I realize, it's impossible, all time, we have big three, so stupid me (smiling).

Yeah, I'm pretty proud of that. That was my goal for last year, to stay consistent. Right now I can continue that with adding more different goals.

Yeah, I mean, it's working out. But I don't know what's the key. I mean, I'm just really -- I'm always pumped up for Grand Slams, and I know I should like treat every match the same way, but when I come in a Grand Slam, I feel different atmosphere and I feel different vibe, so it's always really important for me.

Yeah, also, I feel like having maybe two days to rest, it's working out pretty well for me, because I can chill out and kind of recharge between matches. So that's great. I mean, I don't really know what's the key, just really... Sorry.

Q. Talk about each of your potential next opponents. Sabalenka or Kanepi?

IGA SWIATEK: I'm not really thinking about that right now, because my match was pretty hard, so right now I just want to recover well. I know my coach is watching. He didn't finish his job for the day, but I did. So right now I'm just gonna cool down and I'm gonna think about that tomorrow in the evening.

Q. What do you think was more of a key for tonight's win: Your ability to adjust in the match and problem-solve or remaining disciplined to stick with what you thought would work?

IGA SWIATEK: Both but more staying disciplined, because, I mean, it was pretty hard to find solutions for her game, because she's just playing really fast and aggressively. I wanted to keep her running, for sure, but it's kind of hard to do that sometimes when you don't control the ball 100%, because she's playing really, really fast.

Maybe I was focused more on, yeah, keeping her like not in the middle of the court, and that was a solution, but, I mean, I was focused on that from the beginning. So it's not like I came up with something new. Maybe I just was more solid doing that later in the match.

Q. This is your first quarterfinal off of clay at a slam, so just kind of curious for you what that means to you to be able to make that breakthrough at a hard court major.

IGA SWIATEK: It means a lot, because, you know, like two years ago I felt like on hard court I'm not able to play my game, and I was always adjusting to what my opponents were doing. Right now is different, because I feel like I really developed and I can play more on hard court and I can be more free. Yeah, I'm pretty proud of that, you know.

Q. You define it in the camera lens as a stressful one, but in the most difficult moment, you achieve a great performance, losing only two points in the last three games with two breaks. How did you handle at the same time the stress moment and such good tennis?

IGA SWIATEK: Well, for sure handling the stress was the key, because I felt like I was pretty tight today. Yeah, I had to, like, get over with it and just try to play my game. In important moments, I feel like I did that. But, yeah, I was just constantly focused on what's going on right now and not thinking about the mistakes I did before, because the mistakes are going to happen, for sure, especially when you play with someone who is playing so fast.

Yeah, at the end I just wanted to look forward, which was pretty hard to do that, but, yeah, it worked.