Iga Swiatek has suggested her exit from the WTA Finals on Wednesday might be ‘karma’ for her success on the Tour in previous years.
Swiatek, who was the No.2 seed at the year-end event, was bidding to win the title for the second time in her career after 2023. Initially, she kicked off her bid in convincing form with a clinical performance against Madison Keys, whom she dropped just three games against. However, it was in the next two matches that she came undone, despite holding a one-set lead in both.
Taking on Elena Rybakina, Swiatek’s game imploded as the match progressed, with the Pole winning just one out of the last 13 games played against the Kazakh. Then, in her most recent clash against Amanda Anisimova, a similar story unfolded with Swiatek clinching the opener in a tiebreak before losing 12 out of the next 16 games played. Anisimova was the player she beat 6-0, 6-0, in the Wimbledon final earlier this year.
The back-to-back losses have left Swiatek searching for answers as to what went wrong. 12 months ago, she was also eliminated in the round-robin stage of the WTA Finals.
“I did everything I could, so no regrets,” Swiatek said after playing Ansimova.
“I felt really in the zone, I had a positive mindset. Okay, maybe some balls went short or something, but tennis is not gonna be perfect.
“I fought I really didn’t give up. It wasn’t enough, which makes me sad.”
“We all need to find some understanding, I guess because when you do everything and it’s still not enough, means that you just need to get your tennis better.”
Elaborating further, the 24-year-old insisted she ‘felt good mentally, physically and tennis-wise.’ Since the US Open, Swiatek had won eight out of 10 matches across three tournaments prior to the WTA Finals.
“I don’t really get why I couldn’t go out of the group,” she admits.
“I don’t know, maybe I won too much in the last year’s and this is karma. It’s really hard for me to say. It feels kind of weird. It’s not like I’m expecting, but from my experiences, if I put so much intensity and grit and, and I care that much, usually it kind of pays off.”
It is the first time in Switek’s career that she has lost two matches in a row after winning the first set in both of them. She ends her season having won three titles at Wimbledon, the Cincinnati Open, and the Korean Open.
