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Defending champion Iga Swiatek is looking forward to a third-round match-up against "best friend" Kaja Juvan at the 2023 US Open. While the Pole believes the pair can be professional, she admits that the situation is quite tricky.
Top seed Iga Swiatek defeated Australian Daria Saville in the second round of the last Grand Slam of the year on Wednesday. The match lasted one hour and 34 minutes, with the Pole clinching the win in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4.
At her post-match press conference, the World No. 1 reflected on the win over the Australian, as she admitted to making a few mistakes and was happy to have progressed into the next round.
"Well, I don't know. I just felt like I kind of prevailed, because that match wasn't easy. I'm just happy to be in the third round. For sure I want to improve some stuff, because I did some unforced errors. You know, it's just the beginning of the tournament, so for sure I work on some stuff, yeah," said Swiatek.
The 22-year-old then spoke about having to play Kaja Juvan in the third round up next. Iga Swiatek reflected on their past battles and believes the duo can temporarily hold their off-court friendship and just focus on the game ahead.
"Well, I knew, but still it's hard to predict what's gonna happen. It doesn't really matter. We know how to keep it cool and we already played couple of times against each other. Last time in Roland Garros, 2021," she said.
"You know, I think we both can kind of cut off the off-court friendship and just play our game, and then we are friends back. At least there's nothing crazy is going to happen," she added.
Iga Swiatek went on to admit to being in a "tricky" situation, seeing as the Slovenian is a very close friend of hers. She also lavished praise on Juvan, calling her one of the most honest and smartest players on tour.
"But for sure she's, yeah, she's my best friend on tour. She's one of the most, like, honest and I think smart people on tour. I'm happy that she's my friend, but yeah, we've got to play against each other. It's a tricky situation, but I think we both know how to be professional and just play the match and that's all," said the 22-year-old.
The 145th-ranked Kaja Juvan defeated American Lauren Davies 6(3)-7, 6-4, 6-3, reaching the third round of the US Open for the first time.
"I don't remember the last time I broke a racquet" - Iga Swiatek emphasizes the importance of handling emotions on the court
During the same post-match press conference at the US Open, Iga Swiatek was asked to comment on the role of emotions in tennis. The Pole proclaimed that feeling shame after a poor performance is one of the worst emotions in the sport.
"Oh, wow. Well, for sure it's not easy, you know. I think, you know, the worst emotion you can feel in sport is shame when you play bad and you know that all these people are watching, you know," said Swiatek.
"So this is something that I think, you know, this is the hardest thing. I felt that, you know, couple of times in my career. It wasn't easy," she added.
Elaborating further, Iga Swiatek emphasized that managing emotions on the court is part of the job of being a professional athlete, even if dealing with negative emotions is harder.
"For sure, you know, there are positive and negative emotions. Usually it's harder to handle the negative ones. Yeah, it's not easy. It's part of the job to kind of just accept that you're going to be watched and kind of not care about that," said Swiatek.
"But on the other hand, yeah, work on being able to kind of control your emotions and what you do on court," she added.
Iga Swiatek further added that she has been working on her emotions for a few years and has made great progress, failing to remember the last time she broke a racquet on the court.
"Yeah, I'm also working on that, and I think I made huge progress since couple of years ago. Yeah, I don't remember last time I broke a racquet or, I don't know, had, like, a burst of emotions, you know. Usually obviously there is something, because I am emotional and this is, like, a stressful job with a lot of tension and adrenaline," said the 22-year-old.
"But still, yeah, I'm happy with how I'm managing that," she added.
