OMNIUM BANQUE NATIONALE

August 9, 2023

Iga Swiatek

Press Conference

I. SWIATEK/K. Pliskova

7-6, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Iga, congratulations on the win today. Can you give us your overall thoughts on the match and how you came back in that first set?

IGA SWIATEK: Well, for sure it wasn't an easy start, and we had some breaks and then, exactly, we were both kind of coming back.

So I wanted to be ready for everything and kind of be solid, and I feel like in the last points of the tiebreaker it really worked, but for sure it wasn't easy, especially with a little wind today.

That is a new -- I don't know if it was windy yesterday or not, but that was the first time for me playing with the wind here. So I'm pretty are happy with my performance and pretty happy with how I kind of progressed in the second set.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You've been here for a few days. Were you kind of impatient to go on court because after so many days training without playing sometimes it can happen? Was it kind of a factor in today's match?

IGA SWIATEK: Well, I wouldn't say so because we're in the middle of season, and I already played plenty of matches, so its not like I had six months off.

But, still, it's nice to kind of go in a match and kind of challenge yourself and see what you practiced and how can you convert that on a match.

Yeah, I had a little feeling like that, but mostly I was just at work. So I didn't really analyze it that much.

Q. Elena, Aryna, and you have been dominating on the tour so far this season. What do you think sets you apart from the rest of the pack?

IGA SWIATEK: It's hard to say. I think we are kind of managing our careers pretty well and taking care of the physical preparation as well, and that's why we can be consistent, I guess. But we're just playing well. I mean, what can I say?

Aryna, she has a great season, and Elena as well. I mean, we have different game styles. We have different personalities. So there's not pretty obvious thing why we are, I don't know, more consistent, but we just are, and I guess we are just working hard.

Q. How do you manage your circumstances that are outside of your control, like the weather? You played today with the wind. Yesterday there was heat. Monday the rain. How do you stay focused on your game and make sure that you're taking it through to the end?

IGA SWIATEK: Well, actually technically it got a little bit easier when I started working with my coach, my current coach, because he is really experienced, and he kind of gave me this pretty easy tips and things that I should focus on when I have these things that are out of my control.

But we still have to adjust, and we still have to sometimes even play with the wind. I mean, I guess kind of work with the wind, you know?

So it got a little bit easier, but for sure adjusting I think is the most important thing in our game right now, especially with changing cities and time zones.

So I think I'm getting better and better at it, but for sure it's a little bit harder playing in the wind. I feel like the game is getting more even because there are going to be some mistakes, and you just have to accept that, you know.

Q. It was a really good game for your beginning here in Montreal. A really close first set. How good and how important is it for the rest of the week to have this type of adversity for your first match of the tournament?

IGA SWIATEK: Well, for sure it's nice to have some challenges and overcome them. It wasn't an easy first round, but I'm happy that I stayed solid, and I could close it in the first set because after having -- I played two weeks ago in Warsaw, but still, I changed continents.

And it feels like I had a longer break, you know, so I've been feeling a little bit rusty. But, for sure, having that challenge in the first set helped me to kind of overcome that and be here and now and just play the best way possible. So I think it's helpful.

Q. A question about winning slams versus consistency. I mean, you've had both. Some players have one and not the other. I'm curious how do you explain the differences between those two challenges of being top-level consistent versus winning seven matches over two weeks? And it's considered the biggest title in the tour, but consistency is also something that players rate very highly.

IGA SWIATEK: Well, you're saying that I have both, so it's kind of hard for me to say the difference.

Q. So, for example, the challenge of winning a slam versus the challenge of playing well over the course of 45 weeks.

IGA SWIATEK: It's kind of different rules in terms of what's going on around and all the pressure and the feeling that we are actually kind of usually preparing for this tournament, you know. So the expectation can be really higher.

We have these days off. Sometimes physically it's great because we can recover, but mentally I assume for some players it's kind of hard to, I don't know, chill out.

It was hard for me as well when I started playing Grand Slams. I remember being in fourth rounds, and I was already exhausted, this tournament is so long. You don't see the end.

But I worked on that, and it's been better and better. So I think this different rhythm of the Grand Slam this may be the reason, but I'm not sure.

Just being consistent, there are so many factors. Also, your physical preparation and kind of resetting after every tournament and also giving yourself some time off and not being constantly in this feeling that you have to think about tennis and do everything because of tennis.

This is something that I'm trying to do to kind of have energy from the beginning until the end of the season, so I don't know if that answers.

Q. Looking at your next match, if it's going to be Muchova, as it probably looks like, the last time you met it was a special match and it was a tight one. How easy is it to just completely forget about the last time you two met? Different tournament, different surfaces, different everything. Or is it easy or there's always something that kind of remains with you considering that it was a very emotional match and a mentally tough one?

IGA SWIATEK: Well, I don't think we need to kind of forget about it. It's more like we need to learn and kind of remember what worked.

But then, on the other hand, exactly, it's a different surface and different stage of tournament and different pressure.

So I think any way we have to be ready for the next match and kind of expect that anything can happen because tennis can be pretty unpredictable. You know, one player can have a bad day. At the same time the other one can play the best tennis of their life.

So I kind of learned that I can't really expect anything in tennis. I can just be ready for my next challenges. Because of that, it's kind of pointless to come back and to overanalyze everything.

I just kind of want to tactically learn from the previous matches to know what worked and what not. But, besides that, it's a totally different chapter.

Q. I want to ask you a question that's a bit different from the others. I'm going to take you down memory lane back to your junior days. I wanted to know how your win at the Junior Tennis International of Repentigny in 2016 impacted your career.

IGA SWIATEK: It was in Quebec; right? Sorry, I didn't remember the name.

Well, it was a pretty weird win because I think I was losing in semifinal, and my opponent retired. And then in final I was losing again, and my opponent retired as well.

So I didn't feel like I deserved it. That's what happened, I think.

I remember the final was against Olga Danilovic, and it was a stressful tournament because we were always competing in juniors. So I kind of wanted to prove myself, but I think it was, like, one of the first important tournaments outside of Europe.

So there was a lot of pressure. I remember, yeah, I won it, but I didn't feel like I should be. So mixed emotions, but a great experience, yeah.