"Sorry, I'm too tired" - Iga Swiatek hilariously stumbles through Madrid Open winner's speech; apologizes to ball kids for her 'mean faces'

Iga Swiatek clinched her first Madrid Open women's singles trophy on Saturday, May 4, by defeating Aryna Sabalenka in the final. It is Swiatek's third title win for the season after having lifted the trophies at the Qatar Open and the Indian Wells Open.

Swiatek and Sabalenka fared equally well on Saturday as the two broke each other five times during the match. The Pole maintained a 67 percent conversion rate on her first serve whereas Sabalenka finished with 68.

They played for a total of 237 points, out of which, the champion won five more than Sabalenka (116). The other differentiator between the finalists was the second-serve conversion percentage. Sabalenka stood with 52 percent on that parameter whereas the Pole managed a conversion rate of 57 percent to win 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(7) after a three-hour-14-minute-long battle.

The fatigue on Iga Swiatek's mind and body was evident during the presentation ceremony as the World No. 1 found it hard to put sentences together in her winner's speech. Also, she hilariously apologized to the ball kids for her rude behavior during the last two weeks in Madrid. She said (at 1:03):

"I want to thank my family who's watching, my sponsors, tournament sponsors, everybody who’s making this tournament possible. Also, volunteers, ball kids, sorry for the mean faces sometimes."

"And erm… yeah let’s… Oh! And thank you guys [fans], sorry I’m too tired, thank you for watching till the end and for amazing atmosphere. It’s always pleasure to be back in Madrid so I’ll be already looking forward for next year and yeah."

---

Iga Swiatek: "I've had pretty nice speeches before so I don't know what else to say to make it feel special"

Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka (R)

In her winner's speech at La Caja Magica at the 2024 Madrid Open, Iga Swiatek thanked Aryna Sabalenka for challenging her to do better. It was her 10th meeting with the World No. 2 and she now leads the head-to-head 7-3.

"Aryna, too many more finals, always a challenge playing against you so thanks for also motivating me and forcing me to be a better player," Iga Swiatek said.

The four-time Grand Slam champion then extended her gratitude toward her teammates while joking about running out of words to make her speech "special" for them.

"Ok, yes! I want to thank my team… erm… it’s, oh my god, like I’ve had pretty nice speeches before so I don’t know what else to say to make it feel special but I think what you saw on court was pretty special anyway," she added.