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Iga Swiatek lifted her 19th career title at Indian Wells on Sunday, March 17, triumphing 6-4, 6-0 over Maria Sakkari in the summit clash.
The Pole was visibly emotional after the victory, rushing to her team to celebrate her second title of the season after the Qatar Open.
On being asked about her big on-court reaction to the win during her post-match press conference, Swiatek said that while she is always excited to win a tournament, this win came with a little more “relief”.
Elaborating, the World No. 1 said she had not been feeling the best since her early exit at the Australian Open back in January. The win in Indian Wells, she added, came from a lot of hard work and that's what made it extra special.
"Well, I don't know. I feel like I'm usually excited when I win tournaments. Sometimes, okay, there's maybe a little bit more of the relief than just pure happiness. But right now I just feel I've done really good work," Iga Swiatek said.
"Maybe because of that, I just know that it hasn't been easy after Australia, and I've been working hard to play well and to handle everything mentally well. So I'm just proud of myself maybe because of that," she added.
Notably, Swiatek had suffered a surprise third-round exit at the Australian Open, going down against Czech youngster Linda Noskova in three sets 6-3, 3-6, 4-6. She, however, avenged her loss at Indian Wells, beating Noskova in the third round.
"I'm happy I could improve during the tournament" - Iga Swiatek on Indian Wells win
Iga Swiatek also reflected on her run at Indian Wells, saying she was very proud of the way she handled herself throughout the fortnight.
The Pole believes that while the scoreline of her matches suggests smooth sailing, things were not always easy for her. She added she felt a marked improvement in her game as the tournament progressed and was mighty confident during her last two matches.
"Yeah, I'm really proud of myself," Iga Swiatek said. "I'm super happy. I mean, even though this tournament looked like, the scores, maybe I had everything under control, it wasn't from the beginning to the end so easy."
"So I'm happy I could improve during the tournament. I felt really good on the last two matches, big amount of confidence. I'm really proud of myself," she added.
Swiatek will next play at the Miami Open, bidding to bag a second ‘Sunshine Double’ by lifting the WTA 1000 title.
