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World No. 1 Iga Swiatek has mentioned feeling confident ahead of her title clash against American tennis star Jessica Pegula at the Qatar Total Energies Open on Saturday, February 18.
Iga Swiatek beat Russia's Veronika Kudermetova 6-0, 6-1 in the semifinals to set up a title clash with the American. This marks the pair's seventh meeting, with Swiatek leading the head-to-head 4-2 for now. However, at this year's United Cup in January, Pegula outclassed Iga Swiatek in their semifinal bout with a score of 6-2, 6-2.
During the post-match press conference after her semifinal win, the Pole was asked about what she learned from her last defeat to Pegula and her thoughts going into the final. Swiatek looked forward to the chance to avenge herself, adding that it was going to be a "great battle" against an opponent capable of playing "great tennis."
"Well, I can't really predict anything, because, you know, Jessie is such a solid player that, you know, I can feel that she can play great tennis. We will see what's gonna happen. Yeah, I can't like say straightforward that it's going to be easy or not. It's going to be a great battle," she stated.
While the three-time Grand Slam champion appreciated the American's clean performance, Swiatek also touched on how traveling had taken a physical toll on her ahead of their United Cup battle.
"But, yeah, in Sydney, for sure, you know, she played a really clean performance, and that's for sure. But on the other hand, we were kind of traveling, and United Cup was pretty difficult tournament to kind of save your energy when you were sitting on the bench and cheering all the time. I'm not used to that," she continued.
The 21-year-old stated that the lesson she learned was to get the logistics right in order to save energy for the tournaments she plays. As for their Saturday clash, the World No. 1 revealed that she was feeling "more refreshed" than before their previous encounter, a statement that will push Pegula to practice even harder.
"It's more like we took kind of a lesson more in logistics, and in, like, I don't know, wasting -- not wasting, but like giving your energy, you know, to the team. But, yeah, we focused more on that than on the performance, because, you know, it was just a tennis match, and many things off the court can also influence your game."
"So we'll see what's gonna happen tomorrow, but for sure I feel more refreshed than I felt in United Cup," Iga Swiatek concluded.
"Sometimes it's even like good coffee, so it's really little things" - Iga Swiatek on what makes her happy
At 21, Iga Swiatek is a three-time Grand Slam champion and the reigning top-ranked player on the WTA tour. Being at the top of the game comes with its pressures and expectations. Over time, players have mentioned what makes them happy and how they spend their downtime.
During the post-match press conference after the semifinal match at the ongoing Qatar Open, Swiatek was probed on the same, to which she admitted that sometimes a bad practice session could ruin her mood for the day.
"Oh, well, the thing is that sometimes, I don't know, having a bad practice can kind of ruin your whole day, and it's not the approach you want to have because you are going to have bad practices and you're going to sometimes feel pretty bad on court," she stated.
She also talked about the balance she tries to create between practicing and relaxing, opining that it was important to live her life and reset after training sessions. Finally, the 21-year-old revealed that small things were enough to liven up her mood -- something as unglamorous as a cup of good coffee, for instance.
"So I don't know. Everything can make you happy, honestly. But for me, it's kind of like I want to go to work for few hours, and then, like, focus on different stuff and just kind of live my life and just reset after every practice so I'm not going to feel bad when the practice is going to go wrong, for example. And the same with matches."
"Yeah, everything can make me happy, honestly. Sometimes it's even like good coffee, so it's really little things." Iga Swiatek concluded.
The final at the 2023 Qatar Total Energies Open is the Pole's first title clash of the year, while Pegula has already lifted a trophy at the United Cup representing Team USA.
