Star-Struck twice? Iga Swiatek is having a wonderful time in NY! She’s getting “better and better” with every match. The world number one recently secured a comfortable victory in her 100th Grand Slam match. With this emphatic triumph over Russia’s Liudmila Samsonova, she has now moved into her second US Open QF. After reaching this stage in 2022, Swiatek won the event, and will now be dreaming of repeating that feat in 2024. Talking about dreams, she has already witnessed quite a few dream-come-true-moments in the 2024 US Open.

During the 2024 French Open, Swiatek was asked to name her favorite TV series or film that has made an impression on her. In reply to that question, she named: Friends, Parks and Recreation, and Ted Lasso. Guess what? Ted Lasso star, Jason Sudeikis was spotted in the stands in her R4 match. Swiatek was literally star-struck when she saw him on the giant screens!

During the on-court interview, she was asked whether there are any favorite parts about Ted Lasso that she takes onto the court. She replied, “Just the positivity. It’s a totally different sport because there it’s all about team spirit. Here a little bit as well with my team but we’re alone on the court,” said the world number one.

She further said, “I try to avoid looking at the screens. But I saw him tonight when I was looking at the chair umpire. I wanted to stay focused and I hope he appreciates my mentality because this is what Ted Lasso is all about. I hope he enjoys and he’s not working right now on a new series or something.“

For the unversed, Ted Lasso is an American college football coach who’s hired to coach an English soccer club. The owner the club hopes that Lasso’s inexperience would lead to failure. However, surprisingly, his optimistic leadership brought unexpected success to the team. Swiatek is a big fan of this sports comedy-drama series. Even last year during the French Open, she revealed that she was then keenly following the second season of the show.

Did you know that Iga Swiatek thinks there is a similarity between Ted Lasso and her coach, Tomasz Wiktorowski? In a 2023 interview with The Players’ Tribune, she revealed that as soon as she started working with the coach in 2021, Wiktorowski said she had to set goals to be #1 within a year. Recalling that moment, Swiatek revealed, “He’s (Tomasz Wiktorowski) always so motivating, but I felt like that was just movie coach talk, you know? Like Ted Lasso — ha ha. Many things have to happen to win a Slam, so I didn’t really feel like it was all in my hands.”

Talking about motivations, another superstar came up to meet Swiatek at the 2024 US Open. Guess who was it? Here’s a hint: She’s from the tennis world.

“Star-striking me” – Iga Swiatek reflects her happiness after interaction with the six-time US Open champion

With this recent 6-4, 6-1 triumph over Samsonova, Iga Swiatek has joined the likes of Serena Williams and two others to win 12 straight Grand Slam matches over Top 20 players. Talking about Williams, we saw the ‘Queen of the Court’ meet the ‘Queen of Clay’ in the locker room before her match on August 31.

Swiatek was again star-struck to meet the tennis legend and she expressed her happiness by saying, “It was really nice to see her. She has a lot of positive energy.” Iga Swiatek further added,  “It is nice that she came on-site and she was chatting with the players because for me, even though we met before and for like a couple of years we have been on the same side and on the tours together, she is still like star-striking me.” She was over the moon when she heard that Williams likes her game, and is also cheering for her in this tournament.

“It’s always nice to hear that from somebody like Serena. I would say it more inspired me and it’ll give me, like, a positive kick, so it was nice,” said the Polish tennis star. Even Serena Williams’ former coach Rennae Stubbs was spotted in the stands during Swiatek’s recent match against Samsonova. So, there are plenty of people cheering for the world number one at the 2024 US Open. Who are you rooting for, though?