MUTUA MADRID OPEN

May 3, 2023

Iga Swiatek

Press Conference

I. SWIATEK/P. Martic

6-0, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations. Can you walk us through the match today.

IGA SWIATEK: Well, I think it was a pretty solid performance and a clean performance. I'm pretty happy with the way I was focused. Kind of consistent with my tactics, and I think it just paid off.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Last year you decided to save energy and you went to Mallorca. Do you like Madrid, the altitude? It suits your game?

IGA SWIATEK: Well, I don't know yet, honestly. I think I can adjust to anything. For sure it's a little bit tougher than on most of the tournaments because of that, but on every tournament we have something, you know, to work on.

You know, at the beginning it's pretty uncomfortable, but for sure today I felt like I already got the rhythm and I got used to the altitude. It's hard to compare to different venues, but I feel pretty good here right now.

Q. At the start of the tournament you said you were going to take it step by step, match by match and kind of learn with each match, take data points to figure out how to execute your game here. What have been the key learnings through the matches that you have played so far?

IGA SWIATEK: Well, just getting the experience of playing here and kind of it was easier and easier every match to stay disciplined sometimes and make the right decisions. Because, you know, at the beginning I felt like I had to take care of so many stuff that was a little bit different than in Stuttgart, for example.

But right now it became more natural, and I can use my intuition a little bit more. That's what I was looking for. Still, I'm going to take it step by step, because like every match I play in different conditions. Tomorrow it's going to be pretty cold in the evening, so there are always some -- there is always some stuff to work on, but I'm pretty happy that I just played a solid match today.

Q. It's happened a few times in the last couple of years, but you won the first set 6-Love. How easy or difficult is it to maintain the concentration in this moment?

IGA SWIATEK: Well, it depends. It depends on sometimes even on a day, you know. But I learned how to deal with that no matter what thoughts I have in my mind.

I try to kind of reset and start from the beginning of the second set and also being aware that my opponent probably wants to start from the beginning as well. And she may change something or play better, you know. So it helps me to kind of stay disciplined and focused.

But, yeah, I would say sometimes it depends, you know. Sometimes in tennis we don't have full control over what's going on. Sometimes the opponent can react by being stressed, or sometimes they can even loosen up and think they have nothing to lose, you know.

So I would say every situation is different. But I already had kind of many situations where I won sets 6-1 or 6-2, so it's pretty similar. I learned how to deal with that.

Q. When you're quite comfortable in a match, have you ever in the last two or three years felt any sympathy for your opponent? If you are up 6-0, 4-1 or 6-0, 4-0, have you ever thought, ah, this must be pretty bad for them?

IGA SWIATEK: Well, maybe once or twice (smiling). You know, we have a lot of time to think during the match, and it doesn't really matter on what actions we're gonna choose, so I try to stay focused.

Q. Facing Veronika, your matches have been pretty one-sided in the past. This will be the first time you will face on clay. You mentioned it being a bit cooler, the 9:00 p.m. start for tomorrow. Would you rather play her during the day or would you rather play her at night?

IGA SWIATEK: Well, I don't think it matters. I just meant that every day it's different. So this is the challenge.

But I think I'm pretty happy that I played both during day here and during night so I got the full experience. It doesn't really matter, I guess.

This hour is tricky only because what's going on after, you know, going to sleep really late and then waking up the next day. But before the match and during, I don't think it matters. We just have to kind of adjust tactics. Yeah.