World No 1 Iga Swiatek admits she regrets never having a chance to play against the great Serena Williams. Williams, 41, is a former 23-time Grand Slam champion and widely considered one of the greatest players in tennis history.
After the US Open, Williams ended her astonishing pro career. Unfortunately, Williams didn’t really play that much in her last three seasons. As a result, 21-year-old Swiatek never got a chance to play Williams. “If I could face one of the legends of women’s tennis on a court, it would be Serena Williams without a doubt.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have the honour of playing against her,” Swiatek said.
Swiatek found the courage to approach Williams
In mid-August, Swiatek admitted she was too shy to approach Williams and say a simple “hi.”
“The thing is that I have a hard time catching eye contact with Serena. And I wanted to say ‘Hi’ a few times. But it is tough because she always has so many people around her and I’m pretty shy. And when I look at her, I suddenly kind of forget that I’m here as the world No 1.
I see Serena and it’s, ‘Wow, Serena,’ you know? And I feel like I’m a kid from a kindergarten just looking at her. So it’s tough. I haven’t talked to her but I’m just trying to say ‘Hi,'” Swiatek said in mid-August.
At Flushing Meadows, Swiatek and Williams met and the Pole took a chance to take a selfie with the tennis legend. “So, I finally found the courage today and this happened. Congratulations on your amazing journey and legendary career Serena.
Huge respect for everything that you have done for our sport and women’s sport,” Swiatek tweeted in late August. With Williams and Ashleigh Barty retired, Swiatek is now officially the new face of women’s tennis.
