MUTUA MADRID OPEN

May 2, 2024

Iga Swiatek

Press Conference

I. SWIATEK/M. Keys

6-1, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations on reaching the final. What were you most happy with today?

IGA SWIATEK: I don't know. Overall, with everything, because it was a pretty clean performance and really solid game from myself. I'm happy with everything.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. You're playing amazing tennis, high-level tournaments in a row. Sometimes you look invisible on the court. How confident are you feeling right now?

IGA SWIATEK: Pretty confident. You know, every tournament that I play, I have a pretty good result in, so yeah, really confident and kind of happy that I can, you know, play consistently the semifinals, finals, and sometimes win.

Yeah, it's a great place to be, honestly. I'm happy that hard work pays off. So, yeah, really confident.

Q. People are going to look at your tournament so far and be like, oh, it's an easy run again for Iga. Does it feel like an easy run for you?

IGA SWIATEK: I mean, not really, because, you know, most of these matches, well, you can see the score, and based on that, but you know that there is much more besides the score, you know, to work on.

So yeah, well, I don't know, I wouldn't say it was easy, because at the beginning I didn't have a lot of time to adjust to the conditions. I had to do that during the tournament a little bit.

But overall, I mean, my matches were pretty good. I played efficiently, so I'm happy that I could play that way and be kind of fresh even before the final.

Q. You talked the other day about how your concentration is the key to some of your more emphatic wins. How do you maintain that concentration? What are you telling yourself? Does your mind ever stray to, like, random things on the court, like other players sometimes say, or is it just match and nothing else?

IGA SWIATEK: No, I would lie if I didn't have random thoughts. I have them, but the thing is what you're going to do with them.

I wouldn't say that my focus is always, you know, constant, because some days are better; some days are worse. But, you know, even if it's a little bit worse, I know that I can still play good tennis and, you know, win.

So, yeah, well, I have some skills. That's what we basically have been working on since the beginning of my work with Daria. But I wouldn't say I need to, like, work on it more. I just need to implement the stuff in the right moment during the match if I feel like my focus is getting down.

Q. You have won near to 80% after your second serve. Have you done specific work on it? What work have you done?

IGA SWIATEK: Sorry, I didn't hear the second part.

Q. The specific work you have done if you have done such...

IGA SWIATEK: On my second serve?

Q. Yeah.

IGA SWIATEK: No, I wouldn't say so (smiling). I didn't feel like I need to work on my second serve. We kind of focus more on the first. It was always good, especially on clay, so I think this surface kind of makes it even better.

Q. Obviously whoever you face next is an opponent you know very well and that you have played many times. Is it the point where you have played each other so many times where at least for you the game plan is very clear, like, even without looking at tape of what you have to do on Saturday, regardless of whether it's Aryna or Elena? Or is it still trying to figure out the matchup?

IGA SWIATEK: I wouldn't say we're trying to figure out, because we kind of know what I should play, but sometimes it wasn't easy to implement it.

So I still feel like I haven't played, you know, this match where I tactically played the best, you know, from the beginning till the end against these players.

So this is something that I want to kind of improve. So it's not like we need to, you know, change a lot, but we need to, you know, stick to the plan and I need to implement it a little bit better, I think, sometimes.

Q. In the interview court, you were asked to say something in Spanish. But when you say "ya esta," in English it would be "it's done." In Spanish it's (speaking Spanish). But it's a Polish word.

IGA SWIATEK: What does it mean in Spanish?

Q. "It's done." How do you say it?

IGA SWIATEK: "Ya esta."

Q. It's like if you were Spanish.

IGA SWIATEK: Well, thanks. That's what I wanted from the beginning. Nobody ever thought that I'm actually speaking Spanish when I say "ya esta." Thanks for figuring it out finally.

Q. There is an ongoing debate on the two weeks' tournament like this. Some players say that they prefer to have a day off. Some others that they want to be more time at home. What are your thoughts on that?

IGA SWIATEK: Honestly, it's hard to say, because I can sympathize with both these opinions. There are for sure times where it feels like we are having these days off and it would be nice to finish earlier. When we have, for example, like a week off before a Grand Slam, then maybe we can have some longer time and come back home for a bit.

But yeah, we are in that kind of situation on tour where we are going to be leaving home for, like, more than two, three months, and we need to kind of adjust to that.

On the other hand, it really helps when you have a day off to, like, be ready physically for the next match, so I would say physically it's kind of easier to recover during the tournaments, but mentally you need to be ready for these long tournaments without having really days off, because even when we have a day off, we usually come here and practice and we see courts, we see these faces, you know, eat the same food. So it's not like you can totally switch off.

So, yeah, on one hand it's easier physically, but on the other hand mentally sometimes it's tough, but we are not really the ones that are deciding that, so we kind of have to adjust. That's all.

Q. What are your thoughts about the final, even it's Aryna or Elena?

IGA SWIATEK: Well, my thoughts basically are that I'm happy that we can play a final against, like, the top players basically. Whoever is going to win the second semifinal are going to play in the final, because it shows consistency.

For sure it's going to be a challenge, whoever it's gonna be, and a tough match. I will be ready. I will focus on myself. Yeah, we'll see.