Iga Swiatek reveals details of ‘star-striking’ interaction with Serena Williams
Iga Swiatek has revealed what Serena Williams told her ahead of her US Open third round match against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, with the World No.1 winning in straight sets fashion once again.
Swiatek beat her Russian opponent, 6-4 6-2, without facing a single break point on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Despite the comfortable nature of her victories at the US Open so far this year, Swiatek admitted after the match that she still has areas to improve.
“It’s not like my tennis is perfect,” said Swiatek. “It is weird because I have been number one and winning tournaments, I feel I need to work on some stuff.”
The 23-year-old continued, “It’s not like I need to do that much work because I kind of have the tools, but sometimes it’s just hard to use them. I couldn’t really focus well on my first-round match, and I wanted to improve that.
“I gave myself time and acceptance that it may not be perfect, but step by step I can, yeah, as you said, have better focus and have better mindset. Today it was for sure a little bit better, yeah.”
11 – Iga Swiatek has reached the 11th place in the Open Era for winning percentage in Women’s Singles matches at Grand Slam events (82.8%, 82-17) – surpassing Martina Hingis. Ascend.#USOpen | @usopen @WTA @WTA_insider pic.twitter.com/JxrEMI786y
— OptaAce (@OptaAce) September 1, 2024
Before her match even took place yesterday Swiatek spoke with Serena Williams, who returned to Flushing Meadows and watched some matches.
And Swiatek relayed what the 23-time major winner told her, “It was really nice to see her. She has a lot of positive energy. It’s nice that she came on-site and she was chatting with the players. It was nice that she approached me, because I wouldn’t, for sure, find courage to do that.
“Even though we met before and for like a couple of years we have been on the same sides and on tour together, she’s still like star-striking for me.”
The Pole added, “I’m happy that she’s following tennis and my game because she told me that she’s cheering for me. It’s always nice to hear that from somebody like Serena.”
Two queens coming together to maximize their joint slay. pic.twitter.com/aIkZOcNx5o
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 31, 2024
Swiatek will look to use the support of Serena Williams, as she gears up to play Liudmila Samsonova in the fourth round of the US Open on Monday.
Inside the baseline…
Iga Swiatek is looking very strong at the US Open so far this year, but it does still feel like she could be susceptible to a defeat and perhaps being overpowered by a big-hitter. It is always great to see Serena Williams, especially as her appearances in tennis are a lot more infrequent these days since retiring, and it is nice to hear that she greeted a seemingly shy Swiatek. The only disappointing thing about this interaction is that we are very unlikely to ever see Swiatek and Williams on opposite sides of the court from one another, as that would have been a very fascinating matchup.
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