CINCINNATI, United States —
Iga Swiatek confessed on Monday that even as the
current World Tennis Association world
number one she remains socially intimidated by Serena Williams.
اضافة اعلان
The top-ranked Pole
heads the field this week at the ATP/WTA Cincinnati Masters where the
40-year-Wiliams will continue the countdown to the end of her career with an
opener against US Open winner
Emma Raducanu on Tuesday.
Swiatek told
reporters on Monday that she had never worked up the nerve to speak with
Williams in depth.
The double Roland
Garros champion who rode a 37-match win streak to six titles this season has
played four career matches in Cincinnati — earning her only win as a qualifier
in the 2019 first round.
With her profile
now considerably higher, the 21-year-old cannot explain why she views speaking
with Williams with such trepidation.
The American is due
to retire sometime after the
US Open, with Cincinnati set now as her
penultimate tournament.
Swiatek did seem cautiously interested in a theoretical
chance to play the legend with 23 Grand Slam titles should they somehow be
drawn into the Open first round.
Read more Sports
Jordan News