NEW YORK -- While Iga Swiatek was wrapping up her dominant 6-1, 6-2 first-round victory over Emiliana Arango on Arthur Ashe Stadium at the US Open on Tuesday, Taylor Swift was announcing her engagement to Travis Kelce on Instagram.
Coincidence?
Swiatek thinks not.
Soon after the match and the publishing of the instantly viral post, the WTA Tour's resident "Swiftie" couldn't help but joke about the timing when speaking to reporters.
"She posted when I finished," Swiatek said with a wry smile. "Yeah, maybe that's not a coincidence. I don't know."
She said her team showed her Swift's post almost immediately after she walked off the court. Swiatek -- again, just moments removed from advancing to the second round at a Grand Slam -- quickly texted her friends about the news.
A question about the couple's engagement and love story came just seconds into her postmatch news conference. Swiatek, the current world No. 2 and six-time major champion, couldn't hide her excitement.
"I'm just happy for her, because she deserves the best," Swiatek said. "Obviously she had a lot of boyfriends, so we know all about that. So hopefully this one will, you know, stick forever. Travis seems like a great guy. She seems super happy, so I'm happy for her. I wish them all the best."
From there, a barrage of Swift-related topics followed. When did she become a fan? (2014.) Did she already preorder "The Life of a Showgirl?" (No, because she wants to buy it in a store and have a physical copy.) Will she buy any of the alternative versions of the album? (She's not sure. She wants the original one first.)
Swiatek seemed more than happy to oblige with one enthusiastic response after another. Having previously shared -- on many occasions -- her love for Swift (she credits the artist for helping her learn English as a young teenager), Swiatek added that she listened to the "New Heights" podcast episode in its entirety earlier this month.
"It was a long interview," Swiatek said. "I've got [to] say I was waiting mostly to hear about the [new] album, because besides the sourdough, when she was describing the Eras Tour and everything, I knew most of the stuff already, but it's nice that she explained a lot to people that were football fans and were listening to the podcast because [of] football.
"I think she's just great that she can fit everywhere, and I hope people love it obviously. There has been some, you know, hate as well because she was [shown at] football matches and she got booed and everything. I don't get it, because she just makes our world better."
When a reporter then asked if she would answer a non-Taylor question, she jokingly said, "No" and pretended to stand up to walk out. She ultimately answered a few questions regarding tennis and other topics but seemed relieved when the topic turned again to Swift before the news conference ended.