By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Saturday June 10, 2023
After rallying from a break down in the third set twice to edge Karolina Muchova in Saturday’s Roland-Garros women’s singles final, Iga Swiatek says she is extremely proud of the way she handled the challenge of making her way through the clay season and finishing it with another crowning achievement on the Parisian clay.
She was asked what she felt when the victory was complete and she crouched on the clay, soaking in the moment as the tears started to flow.
“I don't know what I felt. It's hard to describe,” she said. “But a lot of happiness. I felt suddenly tired of these three weeks. Maybe my matches weren't physically exhausting, but it's pretty hard to kind of keep your focus for these almost three weeks.”
Swiatek says her ability to navigate a trying European clay-court swing, without going home has given her great confidence in her ability.
“And also the whole swing,” she said. “Since Stuttgart I haven't been home. So I'm happy that, I don't know, I finished the whole clay court swing so well, and that I kind of survived. I guess I'm never going to kind of doubt my strength again, maybe because of that.”
This one was a little tougher
Swiatek says that her third Roland-Garros title was special because she was able to handle all the pressure that comes with being a defending champion.
“It's pretty hard to compare, because last year for sure it was a confirmation for me that the first time wasn't a coincidence or something like that,” she said. “This one, for sure, it was a little bit tougher in terms of, you know, as you said, injuries and the pressure, and also coming back to this tournament as a defending champion, I right now feel like it's a little bit different. I needed to really handle that. I'm super happy that I managed to do that and that Daria (Abramowicz, her sports psychologist) helped me, as well, because for sure these past three weeks weren't easy.”
When asked what her next big goal was, Swiatek said she isn’t focused on any specific milestone – she just wants to continue improving her tennis.
“I'm not really looking that far,” she said. “I'm just happy with what happened during these past few weeks. I don't know what I'm kind of capable of.
“So I will work day by day to play best game possible and to develop as a player. I'm not setting these crazy records or goals for myself. I know that keeping it cool is the best way to do it for me. I'm trying more to do that.”