Iga Swiatek Makes Unusual Request to Coach After Winning US Open Quarter-Final Spot

After defeating Anna Kalinskaya in the third round 7-6(2), 6-4, Iga Swiatek reached the Round of 16 at the US Open for the fifth time in a row. When asked to spill the beans about her secret to success in that match, her response was succinct: “Oh, my God, I don’t know.” All she wanted was to reduce her errors in that match and stick to her game. And she managed to do that extremely well. That victory also marked her 23rd career main-draw win at the tournament. Is she now heading for her second title at the US Open after her heroics in 2022?

She looks like a woman on a mission at the moment. Swiatek has now secured a dominating Round of 16 victory (6-3, 6-1) against Russia’s Ekaterina Alexandrova. No slow start this time! With this win, Swiatek has now taken her H2H record against Alexandrova to 5-2. She has now also entered the quarterfinal of the US Open for the third time in her career. Swiatek has been in supreme touch since the grass-court swing, and the Pole has won 17 of her last 18 matches.

But interestingly, shortly after finishing the match, Iga Swiatek was spotted texting someone. Who was it, though, and what was the message? Well, during her on-court interview, Swiatek revealed, “Just my coach. I asked him to book like 10 minutes of the practice courts if it’s possible.” Like, seriously, Iga? Insane dedication! Perhaps this is what separates ordinary players from the exceptional ones.

Talking about exceptional ones, this moment just reminded us of a similar incident featuring the men’s world number one, Jannik Sinner. The Italian did a similar thing after his Round of 16 match at the 2025 Cincinnati Open. Shortly after beating Gabriel Diallo 6-2,7 -6(5) in that match (he hit 6 aces and 5 doubles faults), he headed straight to the practice court at 10 pm and hit about 100 serves.

Improvements were seen from the next match itself. It seems both Iga Swiatek and Jannik Sinner have a similar hunger for further improvement. But what else did Swiatek say after this incredible win against Alexandrova?

Iga Swiatek analyzes her game against Ekaterina Alexandrova

Iga Swiatek dropped just four games against the Russian, and she barely put a foot wrong in this match, 21 winners, including 7 aces to just 13 unforced errors. She looked quite happy with her intensity and focus in this epic duel. With this win, Swiatek has now become the youngest woman to reach four Grand Slam quarterfinals in a single season since Maria Sharapova in 2005.

After this impressive victory, Swiatek said, “At the beginning, I felt like she was playing really fast. I wanted to find my rhythm, but later on I really felt like I was in my bubble and in my zone.” She has already found quite a bit of success on clay, and this year she tasted title triumph on grass as well. Even on hard courts, Iga Swiatek has now established herself as one of the biggest threats. Which is her favorite surface to play on, though?

Replying to this question on her on-court interview, she stated, “Well, now I like all of them… which is weird. But for sure, the clay court season has always been my favorite. But people make it pretty hard for me with all the pressure around. I think sometimes it’s just easier to enjoy the surfaces where it’s harder to play, but you have more freedom to make mistakes and accept them. It depends. Every month is different. I can play on every surface if I feel good in my game and in my head. I feel confident. I’ll try to play good throughout the whole year.” 

Although she has already won the title here in 2022, do you think Iga Swiatek can do it one more time here? Catch every key moment from the US Open as it happens.