00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:02 [APPLAUSE]
00:05 Thank you.
00:07 Thank you.
00:10 All right.
00:11 Let's go ahead and get started once we get that trophy down.
00:15 Thank you.
00:17 Iga, congratulations.
00:19 Your third straight Roland Garros title, your fourth overall,
00:22 and your fifth slam.
00:23 Just talk us through what this accomplishment means to you.
00:27 It means a lot.
00:28 This tournament has been pretty surreal with its beginning
00:33 and with second round.
00:34 And then I was able to get my game better and better
00:38 every match.
00:38 So I'm really proud of myself because the expectations
00:43 obviously have been pretty high from the outside and pressure
00:47 as well.
00:47 So I'm happy that I just went for it.
00:50 And I was ready to deal with all of this.
00:53 And yeah, and I could win.
00:55 [INAUDIBLE]
01:00 Do you have the feeling that today you
01:03 played the perfect match?
01:04 I think looking at the whole situation and the fact
01:11 that during the finals there is sometimes a lot of pressure,
01:15 I think it was a really good match.
01:18 Obviously, I mean, I got broken at the beginning.
01:21 So it wasn't maybe perfect.
01:22 But I think the level was pretty high.
01:26 And it wasn't so easy as the score says.
01:30 And yeah, I think I played pretty well considering
01:34 all these facts and the pressure.
01:37 You get a congrats.
01:38 Thank you.
01:39 You've got the reputation of being a front runner
01:41 over the course of your career, running away with matches,
01:43 building a big lead.
01:44 But this year, based on what you did in the second round,
01:47 you did it from deep trouble.
01:48 And I just wonder what kind of satisfaction
01:50 does it give you to be able to win those kind of matches
01:53 like you had in Madrid, like you had here with Naomi?
01:55 Does it give you, you think, extra confidence
01:57 or even something special for your future development?
02:00 Well, for sure, it gives me the feeling
02:03 that I should always believe in myself, that I can find
02:07 my tennis even if I'm in big trouble, you know?
02:09 And with this tennis, you know, fight back.
02:13 So it gives me confidence.
02:17 And we'll see, you know, I always try my best,
02:20 no matter what the score is.
02:21 So sometimes it's going to end up like that.
02:24 Sometimes I'm going to lose.
02:26 But when you're trying your best,
02:28 it's always the best solution because you have no regrets.
02:32 And you can turn tournaments into something like that.
02:37 Congratulations, Iga.
02:41 Thank you.
02:43 Just working off that, do you even
02:46 remember like a version of yourself
02:48 that might have reacted differently
02:50 to those tense moments, whether it was with Naomi
02:55 or the sort of moment in the second set with Coco
02:58 or even today, early on when she got the first break?
03:03 And if you had sort of-- and would that version of yourself
03:09 believe that you were doing these things now?
03:13 Maybe not certainly because I wasn't that kind of person
03:17 that always knew that I'm going to be on the top of WTA
03:21 rankings and win so many tournaments.
03:25 So yeah, I can remember it easily.
03:29 But it doesn't really matter because we all
03:33 come from different places.
03:35 And at the end, I made a huge work
03:38 to manage things so I can turn things around
03:42 in these high pressure moments.
03:46 Hi, Iga.
03:46 First of all, right here.
03:48 First of all, congratulations on a great success.
03:51 There's a famous picture of you five years ago in Rome
03:54 when you couldn't get in the qualis of the tournament.
03:58 Now you're here five years later having five Grand Slam titles.
04:02 Could you take us a bit to the journey
04:05 of not being able to get in the qualis
04:07 and now having a title right next to you?
04:09 Yeah, it's pretty crazy.
04:11 Like in tennis, I feel like this journey,
04:16 it's pretty fair for everybody.
04:18 You just have to fight through these moments
04:21 where you can't get into tournaments
04:24 and play on ITF level, then start playing on WTA level.
04:29 But it all went pretty quickly for me.
04:32 My progress was basically like that.
04:35 I never really stopped.
04:38 So I'm for sure proud of it.
04:41 And it's weird, but on the other hand,
04:44 it's normal because I was, what, 18 or something?
04:47 So yeah.
04:50 Iga, congratulations.
04:56 You said earlier on the court that it
04:58 was a very emotional win today.
05:02 If you can expand on that and tell us why it was emotional.
05:05 And also, when you talk about pressure,
05:08 do you largely mean the pressure you put on yourself?
05:12 When I talk about pressure, usually I
05:15 put pressure on myself because of pressure of the outside.
05:19 So obviously, I'm a perfectionist,
05:23 so there is always pressure behind me.
05:25 But I think I'm fine with handling my own pressure.
05:31 It's when the pressure from the outside hits me,
05:33 then it's a little bit worse.
05:35 But I managed it really well at this tournament.
05:40 And it was an emotional win because I felt a lot of stress
05:45 yesterday and today in the morning.
05:47 And I knew that if I'm going to just focus on tennis,
05:51 I can fight through it.
05:54 And at the end, it all went how I wanted.
05:57 So I just felt really proud of myself.
06:00 Hi, Iga.
06:04 You just described yourself as a perfectionist.
06:07 I'm wondering, do you mean only when
06:09 it comes to tennis or in other aspects of life?
06:13 And if it is a broader thing than just tennis,
06:17 could you tell us a little bit about in what ways
06:19 or what examples there might be of that?
06:23 Well, when I do anything, I want to do it 100%.
06:26 And I think when you're a perfectionist,
06:34 you're a perfectionist everywhere.
06:36 So yeah, basically, it comes up to doing everything 100%
06:48 and sometimes not being able to let it go.
06:52 But I'm working on it.
06:55 And this is a tricky thing because for sure,
06:57 it helps you to be better.
06:59 But sometimes it can be a huge baggage as well.
07:03 So it's good to manage it properly.
07:06 Would you mind sharing a way or two,
07:11 a way from the court in which you find yourself
07:14 wanting to be perfect?
07:16 We're not on therapy, so sorry.
07:21 Hi, Iga, just here.
07:22 You shared the stage afterwards with Martina and Chris,
07:25 two great champions and great rivals as well.
07:27 You've obviously won finals here against four different people.
07:30 And maybe you don't have a rival here
07:32 because you've been so dominant.
07:33 Do you imagine a time when you will have someone
07:36 who comes along who's able to challenge you here
07:39 and play great finals against you?
07:40 And how do you think you'll deal with that mentally?
07:43 Well, I think we already have some players
07:46 that I've been facing a lot, like Arina, Coco, Elena.
07:52 So it's not like we don't have that.
07:54 But for sure, it's not so obvious,
07:58 like Roger, Novak and Rafa.
08:03 But I don't know.
08:07 Sometimes it's the draw.
08:09 Sometimes it's the fact that one player is going to play well here,
08:13 one player is going to play well in another place.
08:16 So I can for sure imagine that.
08:19 But I don't know which of these players that would be.
08:24 Or maybe somebody new. We'll see.
08:27 Hi, Igor. Congrats.
08:30 You've talked a lot about how your first win here
08:32 was so unexpected and changed everything.
08:35 I'm curious now that you've done it four times,
08:38 how has your experience helped you in these difficult moments,
08:43 like the Naomi match and also you mentioned the stress before this match?
08:47 Well, for sure I have plenty of experiences where I felt stress
08:53 or I knew that this match was going to be really important
08:56 and a high pressure match.
08:58 But I was able to manage it and then you can just use it
09:02 when you have next situations like that.
09:05 Because it's not like, "Oh, it's my fifth Grand Slam final,
09:10 I'll have no stress because of that."
09:13 Usually it doesn't work like that.
09:16 So for sure the experience helps.
09:19 It's kind of easier to do it as an underdog, I would say.
09:25 So that gives me even more positive feelings
09:30 that I managed everything properly.
09:32 Hi, Igor. One of the challenges for any French Open champion
09:39 is the short amount of time between the French Open and Wimbledon.
09:44 Could you imagine a time where you would maybe want to devote
09:48 more time to getting ready for Wimbledon?
09:50 Do you feel like that now, maybe?
09:52 I had these ideas, like doing pre-season on grass
09:57 so I can learn how to play there.
09:59 But last year's result was pretty nice
10:02 and I feel like every year it's easier for me to adapt to grass.
10:07 So I think there's no need to do that.
10:10 I just need to continue the work that I've been doing.
10:12 And it's been easier every year,
10:16 especially with my coach who's been playing.
10:19 I mean, with Agard Majska, they had great results on grass
10:22 and he kind of feels the grass well, I think.
10:25 But yeah, for sure it's a huge challenge.
10:29 If I would lose here earlier,
10:31 maybe I would be able to play two more weeks on grass
10:34 and then be a better grass player.
10:36 But if I would choose, you know, I love playing on clay.
10:39 So I'm not going to give up that ever.
10:44 Just building on that,
10:46 it was after Rafa's fourth title here that he won his first Wimbledon.
10:50 And I just wondered how you feel it's kind of changed from year on year.
10:55 You mentioned there that there was improvement last year.
10:58 Do you feel each year maybe that you're getting closer
11:02 and understanding how to get that balance of going deep here
11:04 and then instantly making that adjustment?
11:06 Well, it's not like I've had so many years doing that,
11:10 so I don't know yet.
11:11 But I felt last year that I could adapt quicker.
11:15 And I'll also see what the plan is for this year.
11:21 Because last year it was the first time I was able to play this tournament before.
11:27 I played at Hamburg, so I think to play some matches on grass
11:31 before the Wimbledon is also good.
11:33 But on the other hand, I played basically almost every match
11:38 in Stuttgart, Madrid, Rome and here.
11:41 So we need to take care of my physicality as well.
11:45 So we'll see what the plans are.
11:47 But I think the biggest progress I can make on grass right now
11:52 is using my serve that was better.
11:55 But also, I don't expect a lot because the balls are different.
12:01 Overall, tennis is different on grass.
12:04 So I'll just see and I'll work hard to play better there.
12:10 Congrats.
12:11 Thank you.
12:12 Winning Madrid, Rome, Roland Garros,
12:14 winning here with everybody telling you you couldn't lose,
12:17 I just wonder if you've proved yourself anything
12:20 or learned something new about yourself during this stretch?
12:24 I honestly learned that I can make it.
12:27 Because at the beginning, eight weeks ago when I went to Fed Cup
12:32 and then I didn't come back home for all these weeks,
12:35 I was like, "Oh my God."
12:38 When I look at my calendar on my phone, it looks crazy.
12:41 How am I going to survive that?
12:43 But here I am.
12:45 And honestly, I think I learned that if I enjoy life off the court
12:51 and I really enjoyed being in Madrid, Rome and here,
12:57 it helps me also to be fresh on court.
13:00 So I think I had less drama compared to last year.
13:07 And I could really just enjoy life.
13:10 So then I felt more energy on the court.
13:14 Thank you, everyone.
13:16 Thank you very much.
13:17 Thanks for the whole week.
13:19 Two weeks.
13:21 (audience laughing)
13:23 (upbeat music)
