Iga Swiatek: I'm focused on myself, and I don't care about Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina
While Iga Swiatek is understanding of why fans love the idea of the 'Big 3' in women's tennis, comprising herself, Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina, it's not an analysis the Pole wants to get into.
She won her first Grand Slam of the year at the 2023 French Open on Saturday, beating Karolina Muchova 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 in the final. The aforementioned 'Big 3' now hold all four Grand Slams, with Sabalenka winning this year's Australian Open, Rybakina being the reigning Wimbledon champion and Swiatek downing Ons Jabeur to win last year's US Open.
Moreover, when the WTA rankings are refreshed on Monday, Swiatek, Sabalenka and Rybakina - in that order - will hold the top three rankings.
At the press conference after her French Open triumph, Swiatek was asked to comment on the trio's dominance of the women's tour. The 22-year-old, as expected, said that she prefers to focus just on herself and leave other talks to the fans and pundits.
"I don't really analyze that, because I know that this is something that kind of you guys created, and I understand that fans love that. You too. So I'm trying to just be focused on my work. And, for me, there is no reason to do that," Iga Swiatek said.
For instance, the four-time Grand Slam champion noted that she analyzes only her own runs recently and tries to see where she can improve herself instead of caring about how Rybakina or Sabalenka fare.
"I look at my claycourt season, and I see in every tournament I really played consistently. I reached, you know, like quarterfinals, semifinals, finals, I won Stuttgart, I won this tournament. I'm kind of just focused on myself, and I don't care about the other two players," she said.
"I'm just happy that I won the third set, and that's the most important thing" - Iga Swiatek on losing second set to Karolina Muchova after leading 3-0
Coming into the final against Karolina Muchova, Iga Swiatek was yet to lose a set at the 2023 French Open. Leading 3-0 in the second set, it looked like it was going to be another straight-set win for the Pole.
However, a resurgent run from Muchova saw her win nine of 11 games to take the second set 7-5 and race to a 2-0 lead in the third set before Swiatek pulled things back.
At the press conference, the World No. 1 made it clear that she had no regrets about losing her perfect set-record in Paris, as the only important thing for her was to win the final. Whether that came in two sets or three did not matter for the 22-year-old.
"No, no, it's not, honestly. Again, it's something like -- no, no, no. I don't really -- well, it would be a regret if I would lose. I would know that probably the second set was my chance to win this match, but no. I'm just happy that I won the third set and that's the most important thing," Iga Swiatek said.
Swiatek is now the youngest player since 2002 to win four women's singles Grand Slam singles titles.