"Thanks for making the locker room a nicer place" - Iga Swiatek shares kind words for Maria Sakkari at Indian Wells, Greek smiles in response
Iga Swiatek put a smile on Maria Sakkari's face with her words after beating her in the final of the 2024 BNP Paribas Open on Sunday.
Swiatek was dominant throughout the final against Sakkari. The Pole clinched the first set 6-4. She was even more clinical in the second set as she won it 6-0. It took Swiatek only an hour and eight minutes to wrap up the match.
Swiatek is now a two-time Indian Wells champion. Her first title came in 2022 after she defeated Sakkari, who was the World No. 6 at the time.
During the trophy presentation ceremony, Swiatek started off her speech by congratulating Sakkari. She also lauded the Greek's fighting spirit despite her inconsistencies in form across recent years.
"I want to say to Maria, you know, congrats. I know you're one of these players that is always fighting and going through ups and downs," Swiatek said.
The WTA World No. 1 went on to praise Sakkari for the way she is both on and off the court. She said that the Greek's kindness makes the locker room a "better place."
"For me, more importantly, it's how you are off the court, because truly you're one of the kindest people in the locker room and you can feel that you're just honestly a good person in the court so thanks for making the locker room a nicer place," the Pole added.
Swiatek's words of kindness were met with positive emotion by the Greek, who flashed a wide smile in acknowledgement of her colleague's appreciation.
Iga Swiatek interacted with Zendaya after winning the Indian Wells final
Zendaya attended the final between Iga Swiatek and Maria Sakkari with boyfriend Tom Holland. The 27-year-old actress and singer was in a tennis skirt and a Louis Vuitton sweater. Holland sported a brown button-down shirt featuring white piping.
The lovebirds were in a jovial mood as they sang along to Whitney Houston's iconic song, 'I Wanna Dance With Somebody,' at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. After the match, Zendaya met and interacted with Swiatek.
During her post-match press conference, Swiatek looked back on her interaction with Zendaya. The World No. 1 also said that she is excited for _Challengers' -- the actress' upcoming tennis-centric film.
"For sure, meeting Zendaya was crazy, but on the other hand, she’s a human like all of us. So I was just happy that she’s enjoying tennis and she’s, you know, having this movie with tennis theme [Challengers] coming out. So that should be really exciting," Iga Swiatek said (via US Weekly).
The Pole now has eight WTA 1000 titles to her name after triumphing in Indian Wells. Overall, she has 19 singles titles.