Iga Swiatek rejects French Open press conference question because 'we're not in therapy'

Iga Swiatek admitted she is a “perfectionist” after taking her Grand Slam final record to 5-0 by winning her latest French Open title.

But the awkward world No.1 refused to give any examples outside the tennis court and in her winner’s press conference said: “We're not in therapy, so sorry.”

Hot favourite Swiatek had to save a match point against Naomi Osaka and in her speech during the presentation ceremony she told the crowd: “I was almost out of the tournament in the second round. It has been a really emotional tournament so thank you for supporting me.”

Asked to explain why this event has been so emotional, the four-time champion here said: “When I talk about pressure, I usually put pressure on myself because of pressure of the outside. Obviously I'm a perfectionist, so there is always pressure, like, behind me. But I think I'm fine with, like, handling my own pressure. It's when the pressure from the outside hits me, then it's a little bit worse. But I managed it really well at this tournament.

"It was an emotional win, because I felt, you know, a lot of stress yesterday and today in the morning. And I knew if I'm going to just focus on tennis I can kind of fight through it, and at the end it all went how I wanted. So I just felt really proud of myself.

“When I do anything, I want to do it 100%. It is, yeah, I think when you're a perfectionist, you are a perfectionist everywhere. But, yeah, so yeah, basically it comes up to, like, doing everything 100% and sometimes not being able to let it go, you know.

"But I'm working on it, and this is a tricky thing, because for sure it helps you to be better, but sometimes it can be huge baggage, as well. So it's good to manage it properly.”

Asked to share examples away from the court where she wants to be perfect, she smiled: “We're not on therapy, so sorry.”

The next Grand Slam is at Wimbledon starting on July 1 but the clay-court special has never got beyond the quarter-finals in SW19. King of Clay Rafa Nadal won his first Wimbledon title in 2008 after his fourth French Open triumph.

Asked if she is closer to playing better on grass, Swiatek said: "Well, it's not like I have had so many years, you know, doing that, so I don't know yet. I felt last year that, yeah, I could adapt quicker.

"I'll also see what the plan is for this year, because last year it was the first time I was able to play this tournament before, you know, I played Bad Homburg, so I think to play some matches before Wimbledon is also good. But on the other hand, I played, you know, basically almost every match in Stuttgart, Madrid, Rome and here, and so we need to, like, take care of my physicality, as well. So we'll see what the plans are.

"But I think the biggest progress I can make on grass right now is using my serves that was better, but also I don't expect a lot. The balls are different. Overall tennis is different on grass. I'll just see and I'll work hard to play better there.”