Iga Świątek has shared the most embarrassing moment of her career, involving a humorous mishap with toilet paper, ahead of her Australian Open clash against Emma Raducanu.
The five-time Grand Slam champion advanced to the third round with a dominant 6-0, 6-2 win over Slovakia’s Rebecca Šramková in just an hour. Świątek has now impressively won her last 40 matches in the first two rounds at Grand Slam events.
However, the world No. 2 admitted that not everything in her career has gone smoothly. Last year, she served a one-month doping ban after testing positive for a sleeping tablet.
During a press conference, where Tennis Australia invited young fans to ask questions, Świątek was asked about her most embarrassing on-court moment. She candidly responded: “I’ve cried plenty of times. That was a bit embarrassing. I had a match where I cried for ten minutes straight and just couldn’t play tennis. Also, once at Indian Wells, I went out on court with toilet paper stuck to my leg from my skirt. That was definitely embarrassing.”
As for her upcoming match against Raducanu, Świątek has beaten her three times without dropping a set, the most recent being a quarter-final on clay in Stuttgart last year, where the first set went to a tiebreak.
“I’m expecting a tough match,” said Świątek, the No. 2 seed. “Emma can play great tennis, we all know that. I’ll prepare as I do for any other match. My coach Wim [Fissette] will probably rewatch those matches, as we weren’t working together yet. I’ll prepare tomorrow, and I’ll be ready.”
Raducanu, once ranked world No. 10, is now down to No. 61, but Świątek made it clear she doesn’t focus on rankings. “Honestly, there’s no point in looking at rankings, especially when you have players like Emma who have won major tournaments. They can play really well. Maybe they’re not consistent enough to maintain a high ranking, but you always have to be on your toes and ready because you don’t know what they’ll bring that week.”
Świątek claimed her first Grand Slam and WTA title as a 19-year-old when she won the 2020 French Open while ranked No. 54, becoming the lowest-ranked champion at Roland Garros. Raducanu was just 18 and ranked No. 150 when she made history by winning the 2021 US Open as a qualifier.
