"Now I'm going to have some stalkers there" - Iga Swiatek teases plans for Bondi Beach retreat ahead of Australian Open 2024

Iga Swiatek has playfully teased her plans for a small sojourn at Bondi Beach ahead of the 2024 Australian Open.

Swiatek delivered one impressive performance after another to guide Poland to the United Cup final against Germany. The World No. 1 secured a 1-0 lead in the summit clash with a dominant 6-3, 6-0 win over Angelique Kerber. However, Poland eventually fell short as Hubert Hurkacz's singles loss to Alexander Zverev was followed by Germany's triumph in the mixed doubles match.

With the Australian Open scheduled to commence on January 14, Iga Swiatek has disclosed that her coaching team would be planning her schedule for the next few days. She mentioned the likelihood of taking a few days off after her demanding workload at the United Cup.

"Well, I don't manage that. Usually the coach makes the decision with my conditioning coach, and I'm going to have some days off. We always, you know, do that after such a long tournament," Iga Swiatek said in her post-match press conference.

"But honestly, I feel like this tournament I had a great rhythm in terms of having a day off. It was, you know, literally like sometimes on a Grand Slam. You could get used to it and have right routines," she added.

The World No. 1 also revealed her plan to enjoy a two-day retreat at Bondi Beach in Sydney before heading to Melbourne. However, she then joked that by disclosing her location she might attract some "stalkers," before playfully renouncing her intention to visit Bondi Beach.

"But yeah, I will have, I think, two days off and I will spend them here on Bondi Beach. Maybe I shouldn't tell that, because now I'm going to have some stalkers there. (Laughter.) I'm not going to be on Bondi Beach," she said.

Iga Swiatek: "I'm happy I played in a solid way, I'm not going to feel rusty at Australian Open"

Iga Swiatek

During the post-match press conference, Iga Swiatek also touched on the valuable feedback she gained from her matches at the United Cup. She expressed satisfaction with her performance, stating that it had ensured she wouldn't be rusty for her opening match at the Australian Open in Melbourne.

"Well, I for sure will take, yeah, feedback from my singles matches, but I'm happy that I, you know, played in a solid way. I'm not going to feel rusty in Melbourne when I start my first-round matches. Yeah, I'm glad that, you know, all of the things that I worked on actually I improved," Iga Swiatek said.

The Pole also highlighted the important lessons she gleaned from teaming up with Hubert Hurkacz for mixed doubles at the event.

"Mixed doubles, it's always a great, you know, kind of lesson for me to play any kind of doubles. But for sure playing with Hubi, I think we're going to use it in next years of our careers. So any match is a great chance for us to learn. For sure, I did learn," she added.

Iga Swiatek will aim for a better result at this year's Australian Open, having crashed out of the Major in 2023 with a fourth-round defeat to eventual runner-up Elena Rybakina.