"To do business & tennis at the same time but also be a mother & make 4 Grand Slam finals, nobody is going to repeat that" - Iga Swiatek on Serena Williams' retirement

Iga Swiatek recently added to the flurry of reactions surfacing from within and beyond the sporting fraternity on Serena Williams' announcement of her forthcoming retirement.

In a profound essay for Vogue, Williams on Tuesday revealed that she is ready to call time on her career, hinting that the upcoming US Open will be her final tournament. Having scripted a legacy that transcends tennis, the 23-time Grand Slam winner articulated that she now wishes to spend undivided time with her family and focus on various business avenues with her venture capital firm, Serena Ventures.

Swiatek was unreserved in expressing her admiration for Serena Williams during her presser after beating Ajla Tomljanovic 6-1, 6-2 in Toronto on Wednesday. She underlined the extent of the 40-year-old's accomplishments before revealing hopes of taking the court against the American in the coming weeks.

"She's such a legend," the 21-year-old said of Williams. "I'm pretty sad that I wasn't able to kind of play against her. Maybe I'm going to have a chance. But I would probably be the player that loses in the quarterfinals against her, so I'm okay with that. I mean, her legacy and looking just at numbers, everything that she has done off court and being such a superstar."

The World No. 1 further pointed out how Williams made four Major finals (Wimbledon and US Open in 2018-19) after childbirth whilst flourishing her own clothing line and venture capital firm.

"Being able to do business and tennis at the same time, but also be a mother and play well and make four Grand Slam finals; it's amazing," Swiatek continued. "I think nobody is going to repeat that. So I would be happy to have that belief that maybe I can do that. But it's Serena and she won so much that it's amazing."

The American lost her second-round match against Belinda Bencic 6-2, 6-4 at the 2022 Canadian Open on Wednesday. She is scheduled to participate in the WTA 1000 event in Cincinnati next week.

"The matches I played here against Caroline Wozniacki & Naomi Osaka were like a breakthrough for me"- Iga Swiatek

During the same press conference, Iga Swiatek reflected on her breakthrough performance in Toronto in 2019, when she beat former World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki en route to the round of 16 as a qualifier. The then 18-year-old went down in a closely-contested match against second seed Naomi Osaka.

Swiatek admitted that her run was significant in shaping her into becoming a more refined tennis player.

"The matches that I played here against Caroline Wozniacki and Naomi [Osaka] were like a breakthrough for me," the Pole said. "I remember I got injured after US Open. I watched highlights of these matches for couple of months to remind myself that I was going on the right path and that I'm improving. So it really gave me extra motivation. Even though I lost the match against Naomi I remember I was happy that I could play such a tight match against her."

The two-time Major champion will square off against unseeded Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia on Thursday for a place in the quarterfinals of the 2022 Canadian Open.