ROLAND GARROS

June 8, 2024

Iga Swiatek

Press Conference

I. SWIATEK/J. Paolini

6-2, 6-1

(Applause.)

THE MODERATOR: Iga, congratulations. Your third-straight Roland Garros title. Your fourth overall. Your fifth slam. Talk us through what this accomplishment means to you.

IGA SWIATEK: Oh, it means a lot. This tournament has been pretty surreal with its beginning and with second round, and then I was able to get my game better and better every match. I'm really proud of myself, because the expectations obviously have been pretty high from the outside. Pressure, as well.

I'm happy that I just went for it and I was ready to deal with all of this. Yeah, and I could win.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Do you have the feeling that today you played the perfect match?

IGA SWIATEK: I think, you know, looking at the whole situation and the fact that during the finals there is sometimes a lot of pressure, I think it was a really good match.

Obviously, I mean, I got broken at the beginning, so it wasn't maybe perfect, but I think the level was pretty high. It wasn't so easy as the score says.

Yeah, I think I played pretty well considering all these facts and the pressure.

Q. Congrats. You've got the reputation of being a front-runner, running away with matches, building a big lead. This year based on what you did in the second round, you did it from deep trouble. What kind of satisfaction does it give you to be able to win those kind of matches like you had in Madrid, like you had here with Naomi? Does it give you extra confidence or even something special for your future development?

IGA SWIATEK: Well, for sure it gives me the feeling that I should always believe in myself, that I can find my tennis even if I'm in big trouble, you know, and with this tennis, fight back. It gives me confidence. And we'll see.

I'll always try my best no matter what the score is. Sometimes it's going to add up like that; sometimes I'm gonna lose. But when you're trying your best, it's always the best solution, because you have no regrets and, you know, you can turn tournaments into something like that (pointing towards trophy).

Q. Congratulations. Working off that, do you even remember, like, a version of yourself that might have reacted differently to those tense moments, whether it was with Naomi or the sort of moment in the second set with Coco, or even today early on when she got the first break? And would that version of yourself believe that you were doing these things now?

IGA SWIATEK: Maybe not certainly because I wasn't that kind of person that always knew that I'm going to be on the top of WTA rankings and win so many tournaments. So, yeah, I can remember it easily (smiling). But it doesn't really matter, because we all come from different places.

At the end, I made a huge work to manage things so I can turn things around in this high-pressure moments.

Q. Congratulations on a great success. There is a famous picture of you five years ago in Rome when you couldn't get in the quallies of the tournament. Now you're here five years later having five Grand Slam titles. Could you take us a bit through the journey of not being able to get in the quallies and now having a title right next to you.

IGA SWIATEK: Yeah, it's pretty crazy. In tennis, I feel like this journey, like, it's pretty fair for everybody. You just have to fight through these moments where you can't get into tournaments and play on ITF level and then start playing on WTA level.

But it all went pretty quickly for me, like, my progress was basically like that. I never really stopped.

I'm for sure proud of it. Yeah, it's weird, but on the other hand it's normal, because I was, what, 18 or something? Yeah (smiling).

Q. Congratulations. You said earlier on the court that it was a very emotional win today. If you can expand on that and tell us why it was emotional. And also, when you talk about pressure, do you largely mean the pressure you put on yourself?

IGA SWIATEK: When I talk about pressure, I usually put pressure on myself because of pressure of the outside. Obviously I'm a perfectionist, so there is always pressure, like, behind me. But I think I'm fine with, like, handling my own pressure. It's when the pressure from the outside hits me, then it's a little bit worse. But I managed it really well at this tournament.

It was an emotional win, because I felt, you know, a lot of stress yesterday and today in the morning. And I knew if I'm going to just focus on tennis I can kind of fight through it, and at the end it all went how I wanted. So I just felt really proud of myself.

Q. You just described yourself as a perfectionist. I'm wondering, do you mean only when it comes to tennis or in other aspects of life? If it is a broader thing than just tennis, could you tell us a little bit about in what ways or what examples there might be of that.

IGA SWIATEK: Well, when I do anything, I want to do it 100%. It is, yeah, I think when you're a perfectionist, you are a perfectionist everywhere. But, yeah, so yeah, basically it comes up to, like, doing everything 100% and sometimes not being able to let it go, you know.

But I'm working on it, and this is a tricky thing, because for sure it helps you to be better, but sometimes it can be huge baggage, as well. So it's good to manage it properly.

Q. Would you mind sharing a way or two away from the court in which you find yourself wanting to be perfect.

IGA SWIATEK: We're not on therapy, so sorry (smiling).

Q. You shared the stage afterwards with Martina and Chris, two great champions and great rivals as well. You've obviously won finals here against four different people. Maybe you don't have a rival here because you've been so dominant. Do you imagine a time when you will have someone who comes along who's able to challenge you here and play great finals against you? How do you think you'll deal with that mentally?

IGA SWIATEK: Well, I think we already have some players that I've been facing a lot, like Aryna, Coco, Elena. So it's not like we don't have that but for sure it's not so obvious like Roger, Novak, and Rafa.

But I don't know. Sometimes, you know, it's the draw. Sometimes it's the fact that one player is going to play well here, one player is going to play well in another place. So I can for sure imagine that, but I don't know which of these players that would be or maybe somebody new. We'll see.

Q. Congrats. You've talked a lot about how your first win here was so unexpected and changed everything. Now that you've done it four times, how has your experience helped you in these difficult moments, like, Naomi match and also you mentioned the stress before this match?

IGA SWIATEK: Well, for sure I have plenty of experiences where, I don't know, I felt stress or I knew that this match is going to be really important and a high-pressure match. But I was able to manage it, and then you can just use it when you have next situations like that.

Because it's not like, oh, it's my fifth Grand Slam final, I'll have no stress, you know, because of that. Usually it doesn't work like that. Yeah, so for sure the experience helps.

It's kind of easier to do it as an underdog, I would say. But, you know, gives me even more positive feelings that I manage everything properly.

Q. One of the challenges for any French Open champion is the short amount of time between the French Open and Wimbledon. Could you imagine a time where you would maybe want to devote more time to getting ready for Wimbledon? Do you feel like that now maybe?

IGA SWIATEK: I had these ideas, like, I don't know, doing preseason on grass so I can learn how to play there. Last year's result was pretty nice. I feel like every year it's easier for me to adapt to grass.

So I think there is no need to do that. I just need to continue the work that I've been doing, and, yeah, it's been easier every year, especially with my coach who, with Radwanska, they had great results on grass and he kind of feels grass well, I think.

But yeah, for sure it's a huge challenge. If I would lose here earlier, maybe I would be able to play two more weeks on grass and then be a better grass player, but if I would choose, I love playing on clay, so I'm not going to give up that ever.

Q. Just building on that, it was after Rafa's fourth title here that he won his first Wimbledon. I just wondered how you feel it's kind of changed. You mentioned there that there was improvement last year. Do you feel each year maybe that you're maybe getting closer and understanding how to get that balance of going deep here and then instantly making that adjustment?

IGA SWIATEK: Well, it's not like I have had so many years, you know, doing that, so I don't know yet. I felt last year that, yeah, I could adapt quicker. I'll also see what the plan is for this year, because last year it was the first time I was able to play this tournament before, you know, I played Bad Homburg, so I think to play some matches before Wimbledon is also good, but on the other hand, I played, you know, basically almost every match in Stuttgart, Madrid, Rome and here, and so we need to, like, take care of my physicality, as well. So we'll see what the plans are.

But I think the biggest progress I can make on grass right now is using my serves that was better, but also I don't expect a lot. The balls are different. Overall tennis is different on grass. I'll just see and I'll work hard to play better there.

Q. Winning Madrid, Rome, Roland Garros, winning here with everybody telling you you couldn't lose, I just wonder if you have proved yourself anything or learned something new about yourself during this stretch?

IGA SWIATEK: Well, I honestly learned that I can make it. Because at the beginning when I, like, eight weeks ago when I went to Fed Cup and then I didn't, you know, come back home for all these weeks, I was, like, oh, my God. I mean, when I look at my calendar on my phone, it looks crazy, how am I going to survive that? But here I am.

Honestly, I think I learned that if I enjoy life off the court, and I really enjoyed being in Madrid, Rome, and here, it helps me also to be fresh on court.

So I think I had, like, less drama compared to last year, and I could really just enjoy life. So then I felt, you know, more energy on the court.