"When I was younger, all I did in the bathroom between sets was cry" - Iga Swiatek on using bathroom break to change strategy and beat Aryna Sabalenka in US Open semifinal
Iga Swiatek stated that she used the bathroom break to compose herself and think of a winning strategy to overcome Aryna Sabalenka in the US Open semifinals on Thursday night.
Swiatek lost the first set but fought back to beat Sabalenka 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 in two hours and 11 minutes at the Arthur Ashe Stadium. She is through to her third career Grand Slam final, her second of the season, and first outside the clay courts at Roland Garros.
Speaking after the win, the World No. 1 was asked about the importance of the bathroom break, which saw her return to the court with renewed focus and zest. The Pole stated that she used the break because she needed to, before apologizing for oversharing.
"It's more what I did [during the bathroom break]. Okay, sorry about that. I kind of needed to go. Yeah, well, for sure I felt lighter. Sorry, that’s disgusting," she said, making everyone laugh.
Iga has adjusted her approach in between sets 😅
@iga_swiatek | #USOpen https://t.co/tv0LGFcQag
She then explained that she used the time to think of a way past the Belarusian, before saying that her younger self would have probably spent the time crying about the result.
"I tried to use that time to really try to think about what to change. Because I remember earlier when I was younger, all I did in the bathroom between sets when I lost was cry, this time I can actually think about what to change and actually problem solve. I am pretty glad that I did that because I just had a new idea for the second set and that's great," she said.
"I feel like I just played on another level" - Iga Swiatek
Expanding on how her contest with Aryna Sabalenka played out, Iga Swiatek said that she tried to make sure her first serve was on point as the Belarusian was attacking her second serve to put pressure on the top seed.
"Well, honestly, I think [I] just tried to put the first serve in because she was really aggressive on a second serve. So she was putting pressure on me and I realized that even though in second set I broke her couple of times it's gonna be tough because she can serve well and I feel like she did progress with her. I needed to really be careful and even though I lost the first game I just had hope," she said.
#1 Iga Swiatek comes back from a break down twice in the deciding set to beat Aryna Sabalenka 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 and reach a first #USOpen final.
3rd Grand Slam final, first outside Roland Garros. https://t.co/J6ee7HPx5C
The 21-year-old said that she was not expecting to break her opponent as Sabalenka was on the money with her serve.
"Honestly, I wasn’t expecting too much from myself because as I said Aryna is a great server so I wasn't sure if I'm gonna break her back but I feel like I just played on another level, so that's great," she explained.
Iga Swiatek will face fifth seed Ons Jabeur in Saturday’s women’s singles final, after the Tunisian beat Caroline Garcia 6-1, 6-3 in the other semifinal.
Also Checkout:- US Open 2022 Schedule