Iga Swiatek, the world’s top-ranked tennis player, defeated Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova with 6-4, 6-2 and advanced to the next round of the 2024 US Open on Sunday.
The former tennis player, Serena Williams was also in attendance during the match, leaving the Polish player star-strucked.
Serena, 42, has always been an inspiration for Swiatek.
Williams was spotted between Tommy Paul and Gabriel Diallo, at a place in the WTA rankings that she herself occupied for herself.
The five Grand Slam single title winner loved talking to the American star.
In the post-match conference, Swiatek was asked how she is planning to improve her game.
"I think everywhere, honestly. It’s not like my tennis is perfect. It sometimes feels weird because I’ve been number one and winning these tournaments but I still feel like really I need to work on some stuff," she responded.
"But since I started working with Tomasz, I’ve been feeling like I have more variety and options on court. I’ll try to give them more opportunities to smile because for sure it’s not easy for the coach to smile. So I’ll try to play the best tennis possible so we all can enjoy it."
The French Open winner was questioned about meeting her inspiration, Serena, while playing the match as they were caught talking prior to the match.
The 2023 WTA Finalist was in an awe-situation after seeing the 23-time Grand Slam winner.
"It was really nice to see her. She has a lot of positive energy. It's nice that she came on-site and she was chatting with the players, because for me, yeah, I still felt, even though we met before and for like a couple of years we have been on the same sides and on tour together, she's still like star-striking me (smiling)."
Adding further: "It was nice that she approached me, because I wouldn't, for sure, find courage to do that (smiling) if it was the other way. But, yeah, she's really nice and really positive."
Meanwhile, Swiatek expressed happiness that despite being a former player, Williams, still follow the sport.
"I'm happy that she's following tennis, you know, and, like, my game, because she told me that she's cheering for me. It's always nice to hear that from somebody like Serena."
Swiatek will be facing Liudmila Samsonova in the forthcoming round of the tournament on Monday.
