"I keep laughing but I know it's pretty good, I wouldn't be here if it wasn't" - Iga Swiatek on improvements she's made to her serve

Iga Swiatek discussed the improvement in her serve after her win against Madison Keys in the quarterfinals of the 2024 Italian Open. The Pole cruised past the American in an hour and 16 minutes.

Swiatek is currently competing in Rome where she is the top seed. She kicked off her campaign with a win against Bernarda Pera and followed it up with a win over Yulia Putintseva. The 22-year-old faced Angelique Kerber next and defeated the German comprehensively following it up with a 6-1, 6-3 win against Madison Keys.

The Pole got 75% and 94% of her first serve and second serve in respectively. She won 71% of points from her first serve and 56% from her second serve. She also managed to save all 10 break points in the match.

During the post-match press conference, the World No. 1 was informed that she was among the top two in service games won percentage coming into the tournament and was asked what led to the significant improvement in her service game.

Swiatek admitted that she wasn't aware of the stat but was confident in her serve, as she wouldn't be where she was without it. She also said that she didn't only rely on her serves and always had a plan B. However, she admitted that serving well alongside a plan B gave her confidence.

"Honestly, I keep laughing about my serve, but I know it's pretty good. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't. I wasn't aware of the stat."

"I don't know. I think even if I don't serve well, I know I can win points by just playing behind the baseline. I always have a Plan B. I've had more and more matches where my serve was working. Having that combined, it just gives you a pretty good confidence. I think I've been using that."

Swiatek also said that she had been working with her team on the serve to get the motion right and was proud of the improvement in it. However, she didn't want to take her performance for granted and said that she would continue to focus.

"Yeah, we're kind of constantly focusing on the serve and the motion to get it smooth. I'm happy that today it worked because it's not like I had much time to practice it since beginning of Stuttgart."

"Yeah, I'm just proud of it today. I don't want to take anything for granted. I'll keep being focused and we'll see."

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"I felt really in my zone today" - Iga Swiatek speaks on her performance

Iga Swiatek

Iga Swiatek was asked how she felt when everything was flowing and going her way during the match. She responded that she felt she was in the zone and didn't care about what the score was.

"Well, I felt really in my zone today. I wasn't really thinking much about the score or what's really going on, I was just there present, focused on the next rally. It worked really well."

The Pole admitted there were games that could have gone either way but was happy to step up in the important moments to avoid giving Keys a break.

"There were some tight games that could go kind of both ways. I'm happy that I was really focused in important moments to break or to not give Maddie a break."

Iga Swiatek will face Coco Gauff in the semifinals. The Pole leads their head-to-head 9-1.