Iga Swiatek probably said it best when the talk during his Australian Open pre-match press conference turned to winning a career Grand Slam.
“I think you’re thinking more about it,” Swiatek said. “I can hear it.”
The six-time Grand Slam champion, who won Wimbledon for the first time last year and is just shy of becoming the 11th woman to achieve the lofty feat, is aiming to keep improving and performing at the highest level. If she does that, the rest of the accolades and milestones should fall into place.
“Honestly, since the beginning of this year, I’ve had a lot of people come up to me and talk to me about [the Career Slam]”I’m really just focusing on the day-to-day,” she said. I’ve always been like this. That’s how I’ve actually been able to achieve the success that I’ve had, just focusing on grinding it out game after game.
“Winning a Grand Slam is tough. A lot of things have to come together to do it. Yeah, it’s a tough tournament. So I don’t have any expectations. Obviously it’s going to be a dream come true. It’s not a clear goal when I wake up. I’m thinking more about how I want to play, what I want to improve day after day.”
Alcaraz was more open about his desire to become the ninth and youngest person to win the honor.
“Obviously, completing a career Grand Slam is a great thing and to be the youngest person to do that, you know, that’s even better,” he said after being asked about his comments about swapping French Open titles with Sinner so they could both get a career Grand Slam.
“I would trade Janik for Australia and Roland Garros,” Alcaraz joked. “Honestly, I’d trade it for that.”
Asked at a press conference which of his titles he would trade for the Australian Open title, he reiterated those comments, saying: “I don’t know. It’s a question I have to think about, not just a quick answer.”
Ahead of Roger Federer’s exhibition match against the world number one at Rod Laver Arena this weekend, he said he is pushing Alcaraz to do just that, but he knows first-hand how tricky the pressure can be.
“You know how it is,” he said, adding: “He knows it. Like Rory going into the Masters. These things are tough.”
“At the end of the day, like I said, the momentum changed after the first round. And then it’s the point-to-point mentality. But the fact is, to do a career Grand Slam right now is crazy. So let’s see if he can do that ‘crazy’ this week. I hope he does because it’s going to be an incredibly special moment for the tournament.
“He has another hundred players and no matter what the players say, we don’t agree with the plans. They may try to stop him.”
