Iga Swiatek unhappy with the Australian Open for delayed match schedule on Day 3, says it's "really bad for the players that had to wait"
World No. 1 Iga Swiatek recently expressed her displeasure at the delayed match schedule of the 2023 Australian Open.
Swiatek advanced to the third round of the Australian Open on Wednesday, January 18, sweeping past Colombia's Camila Osorio at Rod Laver Arena. In a match between the two 21-year-olds, the title favorite from Poland won in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3 in 1 hour and 24 minutes.
Following that, Swiatek spoke during a post-match press conference about the Major at Melbourne Park facing a scheduling crisis, with over half a day's play lost due to Melbourne's distinctive four-seasons-in-a-day weather. As of 10:15 p.m. local time, nine matches were canceled and rescheduled to Wednesday (day three).
The Pole stated that the entire situation was "bad" and "tiring" for players who had to wait all day.
"I think it's really bad for the players that had to wait yesterday whole day here because it's really tiring, and they probably are going to have to stay another day on-site," Swiatek said.
However, she swiftly added that there was nothing the tournament organizers could do before expressing surprise that the missed matches were not placed earlier in the stadium on day three.
"Well, there's nothing I think the tournament organizers can do, but I'm surprised that they didn't put yesterday's matches, like, earlier today on the stadiums, but I don't know how it works, honestly. Maybe they had to, like, maybe they have like TV rights to put, I don't know, seeded players or whatever on the stadiums. I don't know," she added.
"I knew that I just have to be patient" - Iga Swiatek on her win against Camila Osorio
Iga Swiatek noted after her win over Camila Osorio that she had never played her opponent before, so she attempted to be solid in her own game, approaching shots as fast as she could.
"Honestly, we never played each other, so I also didn't know what to expect. But I knew like overall her game style and what her base is. I really wanted to be solid in my, you know, approach shots and not, like, try to play every approach shot faster and faster, because then I'm going to take more risk," she said.
The 21-year-old knew her opponent would not back out till the very end.
"I knew that I just have to be patient. Well, there are some tactical stuff, but it wasn't different and against most of the players. The only thing that was different is I know she's gonna fight till the end and she's not going to give anything for free," Swiatek said.
The Pole went on to say that she kept her calm and was "pretty happy" with her performance, which was the "most important" thing to her.
"Even at the end of the match, I felt like she felt like she has nothing to lose, and she really used that situation well and just, you know, played some pretty flat and pretty surreal shots. Yeah, she made some good decisions, as well. I'm pretty happy that I was solid, and that's the most important thing for me," she added.