“I gave myself a present” – Swiatek’s celebrates birthday with Roland-Garros win
Iga Swiatek has returned to her dominant ways at Roland-Garros, celebrating her birthday with a one-sided victory over Marie Bouzkova on Friday
Federico Pestellini / Panoramic
Defending champion Iga Swiatek turned 23 years old this Friday at Roland-Garros, celebrating in style with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Maria Bouzkova to book her place in the round of 16.
The Pole labelled her victory as a birthday present to herself, describing the match as a reset after having almost exited the tournament on Thursday.
“So I’m happy that I won, and I kind of gave myself a present,” Swiatek said of the victory. “I felt good today. Like, I can just proceed with having a solid tournament even though I was in trouble against Naomi for sure.”
Swiatek relieved to be alive at Roland-Garros
The two-time Roland-Garros champion was pushed to a deciding set against Naomi Osaka in the second round, saving match point en route to a 7-6(1), 1-6, 7-5 victory.
With business as usual resuming as Swiatek dispatched Bouzkova for the loss of just six games, the 23-year-old lauded having an opportunity to recover between matches.
“Honestly, I think this is the advantage of having one day off because,” Swiatek explained. “Yeah, sometimes it’s harder to keep the routine or something, but this time actually it helped because yesterday I wasn’t even practicing also because of the rain.
“So, yeah, I could reset, and I could also rest physically because this match was for sure demanding.”
Swiatek revealed that following her victory over Osaka, she cried, believing she was going to lose at one point.
“[I was] just overwhelmed with emotions,” the Pole shared. “I honestly thought that I’m going to be out of the tournament. Even though I felt something on court, it kind of hit me after.
“I was happy that I won, but I still felt like I was really on the edge. So, yeah, I just cried.”
