An interview with:
IGA SWIATEK
THE MODERATOR: Iga, welcome to Rome. You've won this tournament a few times. How are you feeling ahead of the 2026 edition?
IGA SWIATEK: I'm for sure happy to be back. I love being here. These are honestly the most exciting tournaments for me, also in terms of spending time off the court. I'm just enjoying life.
THE MODERATOR: Who would like to start?
Q. Curious about how the last week has been since the illness, how you're feeling, and at what point you felt you were training at a good level again?
IGA SWIATEK: Yeah, my Madrid tournament was tough. It was really, like, shitty, literally (laughter). So yeah, I was completely off, like, day before the match. The day I played also I was not good, like no energy at all.
Honestly, day after it was a bit better, but still I don't think I would be able to play normal.
But in two days I was already fine. I recovered. I had some time to stay there and not really travel because I don't think it's safe to travel when you're so, like, fragile.
Then I came here and I was able to practice fully from the beginning 100%. Quickly I was back. It was really unfortunate timing. Honestly, yeah, many players got sick, so I don't think there was anything we could do to avoid it.
Q. We have heard players expressing their disappointment with prize money at the French Open and kind of broader issues they've got. I wanted your take on that.
IGA SWIATEK: Yeah, I think we've been pretty reasonable in terms of our proposal and getting the fair share of revenue. I think the 'increase of prize money' is not exactly, you know, what we wanted because the percentage of revenue is going down. I don't know if I'm explaining that well in English. I'm sorry.
I think the most important thing honestly is to have like proper communication and discussions with the governing bodies so we have some space to talk and maybe negotiate. Hopefully before Roland Garros there's going to be opportunity to have these type of meetings and we'll see how they go.
Q. How far do you think it could go? Would players boycott events?
IGA SWIATEK: Honestly, it's about different situations over the last years. There have been, like, many discussions in like top-20 group, not specifically related to prize money, but also the war in Ukraine. Sometimes players after COVID, there was a bit of mess in terms of the rankings, also prize money and points.
I think we have, like, good communication between us. Sometimes if it's an important topic, we are ready to speak together.
Also the same thing happened with scheduling when the changes have been made about mandatory tournaments. Unfortunately we were a bit late in terms of the reaction. I think we have, like, pretty clear and similar vision.
But boycotting the tournament, it's a bit extreme kind of situation. I don't know. I guess we as players are here to play as individuals, and we're competing against each other.
There have been, like, situations like that, so it's really hard for me to say how it would work, if it's even there on the picture.
For now, I haven't heard anything (smiling).
Q. Getting here early and being able to practice in maybe different situations just like at the Piazza del Popolo, I'm wondering what it's like for you to try to do your typical practice, which I figure you're pretty set on in terms of the energy, what you're trying to do in such a different venue, what it was like differently?
IGA SWIATEK: I wouldn't say venue had anything to do with what we played in the practice. But for sure the atmosphere was amazing. I'm happy I had opportunity to play there because it was a nice experience. I'm going to remember it forever, like playing in such a nice environment.
Many Polish people came also. A lot of locals, they were really excited to see tennis. Sometimes not everybody does go here. I think it was nice to play in front of these people. Yeah, we had some fun games. It was fun practice.
Q. There's always a lot of attention being paid to professional coaches on tour. What about your childhood coaches, anything from childhood that was important in shaping your game?
IGA SWIATEK: What was the beginning, sorry?
Q. There is always a lot of attention paid about professional coaches on tour. I'm more interested in the coaches from your childhood, when you were five, six years old. Anyone you want to credit for shaping who you are today as a player?
IGA SWIATEK: Yeah, I think honestly every coach that I had had a lot to do with who I am right now. For sure I think it's really important to have a good coach, even though maybe he's not going to be the most experienced one, for a coach to be smart about how he wants to shape your game.
For sure I have two coaches that I started working with when I was, like, I don't know, 10, 11, if I remember correctly. I remember precisely, like, they were really focused about footwork, about my kick serve that really surprised everyone when I started playing on the tour, me playing forehand topspin.
Yeah, for sure there were people that shaped my game. But I would say it wasn't when I was six; more when I was like 11 or 12.
Q. Their names?
IGA SWIATEK: Why, you want to chat to them?
I think the person that really shaped my game was Michal Kaznowski. He still is a coach. He was more of a younger coach. He also played with me.
Then when I started working with Piotr, we worked for a long time. Already I played on WTA Tour with him, so you guys know him.
These two people, I would say.
Q. On your current coach, how is the partnership developing with Francisco Roig? Do you feel you're on the same wavelength as each other now?
IGA SWIATEK: I feel we understand each other very well. I think we have the same vision of how I should play. He's helping me to achieve that.
I have been trying some different options on practices, which is great, because I wasn't exactly comfortable with how I played couple months back. This feels more natural and more solid and I would say kind of disciplined.
Sometimes still I tend to come back to old habits, so I think I will need some time to exactly always fully automatically do what Francis wants me to do. I think it's going pretty well.
Like, honestly the most important thing for me is that I'm enjoying playing. But I joy practicing. Every practice for me makes sense. It feels like a process and it feels like every practice I learn something new. So it's great.
Q. On the prize money topic again, I'm curious how challenging is it, if at all, for you to kind of think about those things, off-court issues, when obviously your priority is your tennis? Have you become better at balancing those things over the years?
IGA SWIATEK: It's not easy, especially when there are sometimes things going on. You might also have your things going on at the same time and not a lot of time to take care of the other ones.
I would say I've been pretty active like 2022, 2023. But sometimes it was pretty hard to achieve anything. I think right now the situation has changed a little bit. WTA seems more open to help players and to discuss. I think now it's a good time for players to be active.
I don't want to take too much on my shoulders because I just changed coaches, I have important tournaments for me coming up, so I want to focus on my own process. If I have space, I will also be involved.
But we have actually smart players on players board. I feel like they are really helpful. It's nice to have them to take care of this stuff because also if you have, like, 50 players reaching out to tournaments and wanting to do something, it doesn't simulate it. I'm happy to have these players like Jessica Pegula trying to bring it together.
Q. When you get a new coach, it's going positively, you're getting good vibes, working on new things, you can get excited to apply that immediately, get the immediate results. How did getting sick in Madrid, derailing a little bit of an opportunity to really keep things going, was it disappointing in that way, or do you have a long-term view?
IGA SWIATEK: Of course, I have a long-term vision. As I said, it's also not that these changes are going to appear after, like, three weeks. For sure there's a long-term vision, but I also have to use every opportunity.
I felt really good in Madrid with my game. If I would feel terrible and I would get sick, I don't care. Okay, maybe that wasn't my tournament. But I felt really good with my game. I felt like I also had good results before, so I wanted to use the experience and everything.
Yeah, I was for sure disappointed. Like, when things happen out of your control suddenly in tournaments, you've been preparing for it for days, it's sad.
But like in tennis you have many chances. If not Madrid, the next one. If not here, the next one. We can also quickly refocus on some other goals.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports