NEW YORK (AP) — Good thing Iga Swiatek had a Swift start to her U.S. Open. There was some big news waiting when she got off the court Tuesday.
Swiatek quickly found out that Taylor Swift had become engaged to boyfriend Travis Kelce, a topic that dominated her postmatch news conference much more than matters of tennis.
Swiatek has been a devoted Swiftie for more than a decade, got a handwritten note from the singer while attending an Eras Tour concert shortly after winning the 2024 French Open and knows her way around Swift's music just as well as she does the court.
“Obviously she had a lot of boyfriends, so we know all about that. So hopefully this one will, you know, stick forever,” Swiatek said. “Travis seems like a great guy. She seems super happy, so I’m happy for her.”
The 24-year-old from Poland had an easy start to her quest to win the U.S. Open and Wimbledon in the same year, needing just an hour to beat Emiliana Arango 6-1, 6-2.
That seemed largely forgotten soon after. Her team showed her the news of Swift and Kelce — who attended last year's U.S. Open final together — on Instagram, which conveniently happened right around the time she was wrapping up her match.
“She posted when I finished,” Swiatek said. “Maybe that’s not a coincidence, I don’t know.”
Swiatek listened when Swift was the record guest on the “New Heights” podcast Kelce does with his brother, Jason, eager for news about the singer's next album, “The Life of a Showgirl.” Swiatek will obviously buy it — she's just not sure how yet.
“I kind of want to go to the store and buy it there physically,” he said. “I don’t know if there are going to be other ones released, because she does these countdowns on the website. I don’t know if she’s going to do another one or something. But maybe next one I’m going to actually preorder, but for sure I want to have the original, the first one, and I’m probably going to go in October to some store and buy it physically.”
Swiatek was puzzled when some reporters laughed at the number of Swift questions she received, and jokingly denied a request to tackle an actual tennis one.
She played brilliantly in a match in which she won the point on 23 of 26 first serves and had a 26-5 advantage in winners in the opening match of the day on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Swiatek went nearly a week between matches after losing in the mixed doubles championship match with Casper Ruud last Wednesday night. But her rhythm came right back in a dominant start to the tournament.
A second title for the 2022 champion at Flushing Meadows would make her the first woman to win Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in the same year since Serena Williams in 2012. Swiatek also has a chance to regain the No. 1 ranking if she wins the title and Aryna Sabalenka loses before the quarterfinals.
That can all wait. Swiatek — and her friends she texted to make sure they knew — were more interested in talking about Swift.
“Well, I’m just happy for her, because she deserves the best,” Swiatek said.
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More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
Brian Mahoney, The Associated Press
