Iga Swiatek defends equality between ATP and WTA

Every Swiatek It is already in the capital of Spain. After winning the Stuttgart tournament for the second consecutive season, the Pole faces a challenge. Capital letter in the Mutua Madrid Open 2023, event that he only played in 2021, where he reached the third round. It is the only major tournament on clay that the No. 1 in the world has not yet won, so her greatest ambition is to end this fortnight with another trophy in her hands. For now, these were her words at her welcome press conference.

a new tournament

“After a couple of days off, today I’m finally here, I’ve had my first day of training. We know that the conditions are a little different, so it always forces you to make some adjustments, because of the altitude and also because of the change from indoor to outdoor. I will try to play my best tennis and gradually adapt to the conditions of the tournament”.

The height of Madrid

“It’s not so much a physical issue, it’s more a matter of altitude, that the ball flies much faster than in other events on this tour, in that sense I prefer the conditions of Roland Garros or Stuttgart. My goal is not to wear myself out too much because it can end up being something detrimental for me, so I will have to manage the situation to control the ball here in Madrid, even the clay is a bit different”.

Same tour, different conditions

“Honestly, I don’t remember very well, these things are more carried out by my coach. Stuttgart is always the best tournament to make the transition to the clay court, because it’s a little faster than normal, tactically things don’t change that much, although you have to move your rivals very well, if they attack you then it’s more complicated to turn around the exchanges. In Rome, for example, everything is much slower, longer rallies, you need more patience to compete. It’s only my second time here in Madrid, I haven’t had many experiences, but the focus must be placed above all on controlling the ball due to the altitude”.

Inequality between ATP and WTA

“Tennis is one of the sports where there is the greatest balance between men and women, but it is clear that there is still a lot of work to be done in terms of prize money if we compare ATP and WTA events of the same level. It would be great if these conditions were improved in the WTA, but we also know that this is a business sometimes even politics gets mixed up, but all tennis players do the same job. Many people think that men’s tennis is more attractive to watch because it is more physical and they are stronger, they attack the women’s circuit because of the inconsistency there have been over the years, or saying that women are much more emotional. I don’t know, right now I would say that our circuit is much more consistent than that of the men, even though we have a different game. They are different opinions, what is clear is that it would be great if the conditions of both circuits could be equalized”.

The dream of winning here

“Obviously, I want to win every tournament I go to, but Madrid is still that kind of tournament where I’ve never been able to give my 100%, so I just want to get the experience. Winning would mean playing six games here, so that’s a lot, I can learn so much from those games. For now I’m really focused on the first round, I want to go step by step, so we’ll see.”