Iga Swiatek: "I'm happy that Elina Svitolina is back after becoming a mother; I don't know how tough it is, but I'm sure it's really tough"

Iga Swaitek has expressed her admiration for Elina Svitolina, who has returned to the WTA tour after giving birth to her first child in October last year.

Swiatek was in action at the 2023 Wimbledon Championships on Sunday, where she faced 14th seed Belinda Bencic in the Round of 16. The World No. 1 faced her toughest match at SW19 this fortnight as she came back from the brink of defeat to win the contest, 7(4), 7-6(2), 6-3.

The Pole will next face Elina Svitolina in the quarterfinals. The Ukranian defeated former No. 1 Victoria Azarenka in her Round of 16 match.

Ahead of the clash, Swiatek stated that although there was mutual respect and admiration between her and Svitolina, it wouldn't play any role in the outcome of the contest.

"I don't think it's going to impact our game. For sure, yeah, we respect each other. We like each other. It's all pretty positive," she said at a press conference.

The four-time Grand Slam champion further stated her admiration for Svitolina, who has returned to action in style after becoming a mother late last year.

"It's good to have these kind of players on tour that are nice and they have kind of good values, I think," she added. "I'm happy that she's back after becoming a mother. I don't know how tough it is, but I'm sure it's really tough. Yeah, I'm happy that she's playing a solid game. I think it's going to be interesting in two days."

Swiatek and Svitolina have faced each other once before, in Rome two years ago, where the former emerged victorious in straight sets.

The Pole is well aware that Svitolina is an experienced campaigner and she will need to be at her tactical best if she is to come through the contest unscathed.

"We just played once in Rome on clay. I think she's that kind of player who is, I don't know, patient. She has enough experience to kind of have all the skills to play defense, play offense. She won so many big tournaments, like WTA Finals. She knows how to kind of play well," she said.

"She hasn't been on tour for, like, past two years," she added. "I for sure am going to prepare tactically. We also spent that quarantine time in Australia practicing with each other. She's really solid player. So I have to be ready for everything."

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"This match is going to give me more belief" - Iga Swiatek takes confidence from her win against Belinda Bencic

Iga Swiatek at the 2023 Wimbledon Championships.

While Iga Swiatek has made it to her maiden Wimbledon quarterfinal, she had to save two match points against Belinda Bencic to stay alive in the tournament. With her 14th consecutive tour win, the Pole has booked her place in her ninth straight quarterfinals.

Looking back at the win over Bencic, Swiatek stated her satisfaction with the result and admitted that she was unsure if the match would end in her favor.

"Well, I'm just happy I won it because honestly in second set I wasn't sure that it's going to end that way. I'm happy that I kind of kept my belief and I just played and I didn't look back. It wasn't an easy match. Rhythm was pretty fast. Yeah, I am happy that also physically I felt good till the end and I could just keep going," she said.

"This match is going to give me more belief. I'm happy that it was really tight and I could still play my game. Yeah, these are important moments for sure. You have to kind of take all the positive stuff from matches like that," she added.

Swiatek is now the youngest player to make the quarterfinals at all four Grand Slams since Svetlana Kuznetsova.