Iga Swiatek believes there are positives to be drawn from her run at this year’s French Open after losing in the semi-finals.
Swiatek had dominated the Grand Slam in recent times and was on a 26-match winning streak until losing 6-7(1), 6-4, 6-0, to world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka. The Pole was on the verge of victory after leading by a set and 4-2 before the top seed battled back to level the match and then stormed through the decider in less than 30 minutes. In the final set, Swiatek struggled to find her game on the court as she produced 12 unforced errors and another seven forced errors.
“I feel like I served the same, and she (Sabalenka) read my serve much better,” she commented on how the match ended.
“I think I lost my intensity a bit and she played pretty strong as in the first set, but I didn’t react to that well and just couldn’t push back.”
As to what caused a lull in her intensity, the 24-year-old admitted that it was more related to the physical side of her game but she insisted she still had energy. Instead, she credited Sabalenka for taking her chances in the match.
Swiatek hasn’t played in a tournament final since winning last year’s French Open and has experienced a patchy past couple of months on the Tour in terms of results. Losing her second match played in both Stuttgart and Rome. She performed better at the Madrid Open where she reached the last four before suffering a crushing defeat against Coco Gauff.
“I love playing here (at the French Open), so for sure I’m happy that I was fortunate enough to play so many great tournaments here. Even this one I feel like I played better than weeks before,” Swiatek reflected.
“I’m just happy that I have this place to come back to every year and just try to push myself.”
As a result of her latest loss, Swiatek is projected to fall down the rankings to seventh in the world. Her lowest position since February 2022. The implication of this is that she could face a tougher draw at the Wimbledon championships, which starts in less than a month.
“Looking at the math, I lost many points right now, but I know that it doesn’t really matter,” she said.
“Any of us can win these tournaments. We kind of start every tournament from the beginning. So I’m just going to try to do my job and focus on getting progress and learning new stuff on grass right now.”
Swiatek’s unbeaten run at the French Open lasted 1457 days, according to data gathered by OptaAce.
