BILLIE JEAN KING CUP

November 19, 2024

Dawid Celt

Iga Swiatek

Katarzyna Kawa

Team Poland

Press Conference

ERRANI-PAOLINI/Kawa-Swiatek

7-5, 7-5

Team Poland - 1

Team Italy - 2

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English.

Q. Bad luck today. Iga, can you sum up your emotions after I think it was more than four hours on the court for you?

IGA SWIATEK: Honestly, I don't think I ever been that tired (smiling). Also, you know, because of the last match we played.

So yeah, but still, like, no regrets. I fought for every point. Yeah, there was maybe one rally at the set point that I could have played better, but tactically I messed up. But overall, you know, we fought till the end, and we gave it all.

Q. On the match with Jasmine, the singles match, I know obviously you got through it and it was such a tough one, but it was so much tighter than your previous matches with her. What felt different for you?

IGA SWIATEK: I'm not sure. I think I wasn't that consistent as I was in our last matches. You know, I didn't really give space on the Roland Garros final, and at the US Open, too, for her to come back to the match. Today I did, and she used that. She's a top player, and you can't do that if you want to win, you know, kind of smoothly.

I think my energy level was, like, really low in the second set, and I came back kind of in third. I'm not sure why (smiling), but I don't know, I just felt better in the third set, so I thought I can do more.

Q. Iga, if you reflect on the week, the couple of days you spent here in Malaga, what's your feeling? On the one hand you lose in semifinals, but on the other hand you managed to beat very good players such as Paula and Jasmine. Does this give you extra strength for the season to come? What are you going to do in the coming weeks? I guess it's time for a bit of vacation now?

IGA SWIATEK: Well, I don't think I'm going to feel any strength tomorrow after I wake up, like everything will be sore. For sure I played some nice matches here.

Well, today I was just trying to survive physically, but first two matches, like, I'm happy that, I don't know, I was able to be more focused and really in the right moment, even though yesterday, like, my game maybe wasn't, like, perfect. Also Linda played really great.

These matches were really tight, and it was nice to win them all, because in important moments, I was there to use my chances.

For sure, you know, I'm going to start new season with some new goals, and I'm already looking forward to it, because we haven't had time with Wim to practice a lot. So it's going to be nice to try that.

Q. End of a very long but successful season for you. Looking ahead to 2025, what do you want to bring with you from this year into the new season?

IGA SWIATEK: Well, the experience, I would say. I think this year it was easier for me to play as No. 1 and with a target on my back.

Last year I struggled with it, so this year I think I progressed in that. A lot, but it's hard not to reflect on everything. The season looked differently for me after Roland Garros, I would say, so yeah, the first part was pretty perfect. The other one, you know, ups and downs. So I'll need some time to analyze, because from, you know, the beginning, I was just going from tournament to tournament, you know.

Q. Dawid, what do you think of the team effort as a whole? It's the best result of Poland in the Billie Jean King Cup. Do you think you can go any further in the upcoming years?

CAPTAIN DAWID CELT: I think so. We're going to be fighting for more. Today results hurts, this is for sure, but this is sport. Sometimes you win; sometimes you lose.

We left on court everything what we had. That's what we promised before the competition. I'm proud of my team and proud of my players.

Iga is a true leader. Thank you, Iga. You were amazing.

Yeah, I'm still full of emotions. Three exhausted days behind us. Yeah, I believe in the future we can go further. That's for sure.