Iga Swiatek admits Serena Williams spotlight is helping her stay focused
Iga Swiatek is not being talked about as much as one might expect of a world number one at the US Open, as a certain Serena Williams determines the ebb and flow of attention in New York this year.
For instance, despite her status as world number one, Swiatek only played her first match on Arthur Ashe Stadium in her second round match this week.
“Oh my god, sorry. It’s my first time on Ashe so just hearing myself here is pretty crazy,” she said cutting herself off on her first post-match interview question after defeating 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens.
But Swiatek is by no means upset to have the spotlight taken off her, particularly compared to the scrutiny she was under earlier in the season. A reporter asked in her post-match press conference if it helped her to fly under the radar.
“A little bit, yeah, for sure,” she admitted. “You can see the difference to Roland Garros and Wimbledon when I came back after winning Roland Garros.
“But I would say it doesn’t really matter for me. If I’m going to play well and if I’m going to do my work on court, I know I will be fine in terms of everything that’s going around, you know.
“But, yeah, I mean, Serena totally deserves it and it’s pretty obvious for me that she’s going to be in the spotlight in this tournament. Yeah, that’s kind of her time right now. I’m just, you know, playing and focusing on that, and that’s the most important thing for me.”
Swiatek came into Wimbledon having not lost since February with six successive titles and 35 match wins in a row, until she was eventually beaten by Alizé Cornet in the third round at SW19.
More broadly, the 21-year-old has been impressively consistent at Slams for the last three seasons. Swiatek has reached at least the third round of every Major stretching back to the 2020 Australian Open, 11 events in total, meaning she has won at least two matches on every Slam appearance.
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