Iga Swiatek's review of Taylor Swift's 'The Tortured Poets Department' album: "I fell asleep twice"

Iga Swiatek recently gave her thoughts on Taylor Swift's 11th studio album The Tortured Poets Department, which was released in April. While the Pole admittedly liked a few tracks, she didn't seem to be keen on hailing it as the American pop star's great works.

Swiatek has previously professed to be a huge Taylor Swift fan, so much so that she tasked her team to snag the tickets for the Eras Tour earlier this year. The Pole has talked at length about the American singer-songwriter's recent works, which include Midnights, Evermore and Folklore.

Against that background, a journalist sought the opportunity to ask Iga Swiatek about her views on Taylor Swift's most personal album yet during the former's pre-tournament press conference at the 2024 Italian Open.

"I know you've been very busy with everything, but I'm curious if you found the two or three hours that one needs to listen to The Tortured Poets Department and what you think of that album," the journalist asked.

The World No. 1 replied that while she liked a few tracks off The Tortured Poets Department, she couldn't get hooked on its sound and fell asleep while listening to it. That said, she did claim that her energy-sapping Madrid Open campaign played a part in her not fully investing her time in the album.

"I like it. I would say there are, like, seven songs that I really like. I made a playlist of all of them. I know Taylor wouldn't approve of me listening to only some of them, but I have my picks," Iga Swiatek said during her pre-tournament press conference in Rome. "Rest of them are... I mean, I fell asleep twice when I was flying. Also because I'm not sleeping after last matches of tournaments."

"I have my picks. The other songs I feel like the words are so complicated that she focused more on that than the music itself," she added. "It's less poppy. There's not much beat or whatever."

Swiatek then disclosed some of the songs that she liked from The Tortured Poets Department.

"It's So Long, London, The Alchemist and The Albatross. Some Chloe Marcus something," she said. "Sorry, I don't remember the title. And the one about Florence and The Machine. Post Malone, obviously. A couple more, yeah."

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Iga Swiatek on Taylor Swift's The Tortured Poets Department: "Totally different vibe than Midnights"

Iga Swiatek after winning the 2024 Madrid Open

Iga Swiatek further analyzed the different aspects of the folk-pop album during her pre-tournament press conference in Rome, noting that it was a departure from the "vibe" of Midnights.

"Yeah, I feel like the melody is kind of adjusting to the words, if you know what I mean, rather than... It's just my feeling. I don't know what she focused on. She always focuses on lyrics, so it's hard to say. But I like it. Totally different vibe than Midnights," Iga Swiatek said. "I most like the songs that are kind of leaning forwards, the vibe of Folklore and Evermore. I would love her to come back to that."

For those unaware, the Pole loved Taylor Swift's previous album Midnights. She even expressed her joy to the tennis community on X (formerly Twitter) upon receiving its vinyl as a Christmas gift in late 2022.