"Could this BE any more exciting?" - Iga Swiatek channels her inner Chandler Bing after spotting Matthew Perry at 2022 US Open women's final
Iga Swiatek's first few tweets after winning the 2022 US Open included her excitement at realizing that Matthew Perry was sitting in the stands at the Arthur Ashe Stadium for her title match on Saturday.
The 21-year-old Pole, who lifted a third Grand Slam title, took to social media to indirectly reveal that she was a die-hard fan of Matthew Perry's character Chandler Bing from the popular American TV sitcom โ Friends. Perry attended the match with a couple of friends, according to his Instagram, as well as goddaughter Tara.
"Me when I really wanted to be focused but I saw @MatthewPerry on the screen during the changeover. Could this BE any more exciting?" Iga Swiatek tweeted.
Me when I really wanted to be focused but I saw @MatthewPerry on the screen during the changeover. Could this BE any more exciting? https://t.co/JMLpvQjnNA
We love when our Friends come to the #USOpen
@MatthewPerry ๐ https://t.co/7RK70Pco0R
"I used more intuition" - Iga Swiatek on making adjustments from Cincinnati and Toronto to US Open
Iga Swiatek lifted the third Grand Slam title of her career as she beat Ons Jabeur 6-2, 7-6(5) in the 2022 US Open final on Saturday. She won her first two Majors at Roland Garros in 2020 and earlier this year. The victory at Flushing Meadows also marked her seventh title of the season so far.
A match that lasted just under two hours saw the World No. 1 Swiatek break her opponent five times, while saving six break points herself. It was a heartbreaking moment for Tunisia's Jabeur, who lost a Grand Slam final for the second time in two months. At the 2022 Wimbledon Championships, she fell to Elena Rybakina in the summit clash.
In a press conference after the match, Swiatek was asked about the changes she had made to her game after crashing out of the Canadian Open and the Cincinnati Open in the third round, especially after she had complained about the tennis balls that were used for women. The Pole credited the changed weather and stated that she started taking more risks and trusting her intuition.
"For sure, the weather changed because it wasn't that hot in second part of the tournament," Swiatek said. "Like at the beginning of this swing, I had to really force myself to make some technical adjustments. I was making a lot of mistakes. Then, I finally accepted that I'm going to make those mistakes. It's not going to be like on a slow surface where I can build a rally, then be really calm and just finish. It's going to be more risk and less control, for sure. So I accepted that."
"I also didn't need to think about this technical stuff at the end because I did it for already four weeks, so it kind of got a little bit more natural and I used more intuition. That was the thing that actually let me to be more free," she added.