US OPEN

August 26, 2022

Iga Swiatek

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Iga, good morning. Could you give us your thoughts on being at the US Open this year.

IGA SWIATEK: Well, I'm pretty excited, for sure. Happy that I had time to practice little bit more. I feel like I'm ready.

So it's great that I can come back and learn more and more every year. I feel the progress, so hopefully I'm going to be able to show that on my matches.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. What do you think about life at the US Open, New York generally? A lot of players love it; not all players love it. It's a different type of environment. What do you think of it?

IGA SWIATEK: Well, I would say just about being in New York, it's great for a few weeks. I wouldn't choose it as a place to live because I'm more of a person that needs a calm place with the proper environment to rest. New York is kind of always alive.

That's not for sure my place. But, you know, the tournament is great. Any tournament we play is great, Grand Slam. It's a totally different atmosphere than any other tournament.

Honestly, it not like I have -- for sure at French Open I spent more time, like, watching matches. I just was able to be longer in the tournament. So US Open is still this kind of tournament that I want to experience more and explore.

Yeah, but I love it honestly every year.

Q. You took part in the charity event a few days ago. Tell me, first of all, what it meant to you to be part of that? You had your own exhibition back home for Ukraine. How was it playing with Rafa, we saw the tweeners? How many times have you rewatched that?

IGA SWIATEK: Amazing. Once in a lifetime experience. We already played singles Roland Garros two years ago. Yeah, well, Rafa is great. Yeah, I wouldn't even imagine as a kid, like, playing next to him and being in the same team.

But the whole event was really great. I'm pretty happy that we were able to raise such an amount of money. Like, all the people who were involved in making it, they give a good example. Pretty happy that I could participate in that and continue what I started back in February when I started talking about the war.

Yeah, it's great that we as an athlete can just have this kind of impact and also give example and also attract people to come and, yeah, give money for charities. That's great.

Q. Obviously a lot of hype for Serena Williams. As a tennis fan, will you be watching her first match? What are your thoughts about her career and legacy and maybe what you took from her game?

IGA SWIATEK: Well, it's hard to describe it in two sentences.

But she has done so much. Honestly, like, for me it's still pretty surreal when I see her. I still feel like I'm just a kid who's watching. I watch her my whole life. Basically she was everywhere because she always won and was somewhere in the semifinals or the finals.

Well, I didn't always feel like I'm this kind of player who can, like, play similar tennis because she always seemed so strong, really stronger than any of her opponents physically.

But mentally, for sure, she's the one who's going to show you how to use your position and how to kind of intimidate with being No. 1. I'm trying to do that. I don't know if it's going well or not (smiling). We'll probably see in a couple of months, maybe next season.

For sure, she's the great example. Especially also with how she copes with having business and playing at the same time or being a mother and playing at the same time. It's just amazing. It's not like many athletes have done that.

I think it's great that we have somebody like that in our sport who cleared the path and show us that you can do anything. The sky's the limit.

Q. Can you tell us what you're reading right now? How many books did you bring with you? Have you been scouting out a place for that calm that you seek at big tournaments?

IGA SWIATEK: For sure. I mean, I feel like last couple of weeks in Toronto and in Cincinnati, have been pretty hectic for me. I felt really nervous. When I came here, it was easier for me to kind of chill out maybe because I already, like, lost two matches, and now I can really lower my expectations and just focus on improving and on tennis.

But, yeah, it's easier for me to kind of chill out here. I'm reading, I don't know if it's a good example for younger generation, but Memoirs of a Geisha, Atlas of the Heart by Brené Brown. Also trying to learn something and go into the more intellectual way (smiling).

Q. You and Paula Badosa recently criticized the balls used in U.S. tournaments and US Open. I notice you and Paula were in contact with Steve Simon to change something. I want to know if you're still in contact maybe for a change in the near future. Also in terms of equality in the year 2022, women versus men, stuff like that.

IGA SWIATEK: Well, I don't know what are the plans for future years. But for sure me and Paula, we're going to kind of be, like, stick with what we said for sure. We're going to try to also explain why we're saying things like that.

Yeah, I mean, I feel like in Cincinnati I said all the stuff that I wanted to. For sure I don't like the balls. But, on the other hand, I'm here to compete and to play my best tennis. Everybody has the same conditions. I'm also at the same time trying to adjust and learn how to play with these balls.

For sure it's different for every player because it's just kind of our game style, with our grip, that gives us more challenging time here.

Yeah, overall I said what I wanted to say. The balls are kind of, after a few games, really -- the conditions are totally changing because they get more and more light, they're losing fluffiness. It's hard to sometimes adjust.

I don't want to really focus on that right now because there's tournament coming up, and I want to really do my best to adjust and to learn because that's what tennis players have to do. We can talk about the balls, but still we have to play matches and have to adjust. So I'm focusing on that right now.

Q. With Serena getting ready to move on, it's not clear how much more we'll see Roger Federer, players like Rafa and Novak getting older, I'm wondering whether you see this as the start of the end of an era in tennis? How do you see your role and the other role of young, top players like yourself into the future of the sport? How optimistic are you about where the sport is going, how popular it will remain or can grow?

IGA SWIATEK: That's a tough question because, like, from my point of view, I'm trying to focus on next tournament. I wasn't thinking what place I'm going to be in few years. You know how sport is, it's tricky sometimes.

I'm just trying to do my best at that time. But for sure, yeah, well, these are the players that I watched when I was younger. For me, it feels like they've always been on these tournaments and they always been competitive. There was always this rivalry between the big three, and Serena dominating. For sure it's going to be kind of weird and different.

But, like, I don't have any predictions who is going to be, I don't know, lead or dominate right now. For sure I'm going to do my best work to just learn and to make progress.

It's hard to predict. Hopefully tennis is going to go in a good direction. For sure they gave us a lot in terms of all the fandoms that they kind of created, the attention that they had.

Hopefully we're going to continue doing good job as tennis players and give good example, yeah.

Q. There are few players that can understand the pressure and the expectation that come with being a top-ranked player. There are few people that understand what that feels like. How has that distinction given you more of an appreciation for the dominance that Serena has had over a span of decades?

IGA SWIATEK: Well, for sure, right now I understand it little bit more. Being in this situation, I know how tough it is sometimes to find balance and to actually stay focused on the proper things.

I think she did very well. Probably she also had good people around her who guided her sometimes.

On the other hand, everybody has their own path. It's not like you can copy what Serena did, then do the same, and it's going to work.

Yeah, I have huge appreciation because it's one of my goals actually to be consistent throughout my whole career, staying top 10 for a long, long time.

She was No. 1 for a long, long time, so it's pretty crazy. For sure I understand it little bit more right now, how much work she has put into it.

Q. Sorry for all the questions about Serena. A couple weeks ago you said you haven't worked up the courage to introduce yourself to her. With the window of opportunity closing, has that changed? Do you plan to change that this fortnight?

IGA SWIATEK: To say hi?

Q. Yes.

IGA SWIATEK: I'm still planning to do that (smiling).

Yeah, well, it hasn't happened yet, so I'll let you know. But, yeah, that's all.

Q. What are your thoughts on the role of coaches during a match and what should be allowed and what shouldn't be allowed?

IGA SWIATEK: Well, for sure, on Grand Slams we don't have anything in terms of coaching. You're asking probably about WTA, right?

Q. WTA and what you would like to see the rule to be.

IGA SWIATEK: Yeah, that's a tough topic, as well, because everybody is going to have different views. For sure there are players that say coaching shouldn't be allowed. I'm more, like, leaning into having the same system that we had couple of years ago when I actually started playing on tour. In 2019 we had a system where we could call our coach and he could coach us only on the one changeover during set. I liked it.

Right now it's not so smooth because, first of all, sometimes for chair umpires, it's hard to interpret what our coaches are saying and how much. Sometimes it's pretty loud on a stadium, so when they try to coach us and tell us something, we can't hear it, so it doesn't really make sense.

When we could actually call them on the changeover, I think it was for sure helpful for us because we could actually discuss some stuff for just, like, one minute. Also, I think it gained some attention, like, in terms of broadcasting, that people also could see a relationship between the coach. Also, what we can change during a changeover, which is pretty interesting.

But I also understand that players say that it's an individual sport, and we should all solve our problems on court just by ourselves.

But on the other hand, you know, basically there's coaching in most of sports. In football, I mean, soccer, coaches can shout, even though there's 11 grown men on the field and they should know what to do. They probably know the tactics, but he's still talking.

There are breaks in basketball.

I think, yeah, for sure it would change the role of, like, the team if there would be more and more coaching. I was pretty happy with the system that we had earlier, because right now I feel like it's pretty tough to hear sometimes what the coach has to say because he's sometimes far away in a box, and you just can't hear him, yeah.

I like that system that we had for one year (smiling).