Chris Oddo| @thefanchild | Tuesday, May 6, 2025
It’s almost strange to say: Iga Swiatek In the absence of a championship, three clay games have been played. No, the sky did not fall – away from it – but to the lofty standards of the Polish Swordsman, which was surprising.
This is a player who won a 23-game winning streak in the Olympic semifinals in Paris last year. We became so used to her apparent dominance that it was hard to imagine she had lost it again.
But things quickly changed in tennis, and now – just 10 months later – Swiatek is working hard to find his confidence and comfort before the championship battle in Rome.
Doha and Indian Wells failed champion defenses have put forward some flags. Swiatek seems to be uncomfortable with her skin and loses her personal Klyptonite Jelena Ostapenko (in Doha) and the Rising Teenagers Mirra Andreeva (In India’s Wells) seems to emphasize her relative vulnerability.
Will clay become a magic pill for Swiatek’s struggle? No so far.
Ostapenko is in Stuttgart again Coco Gofu In Madrid’s semi-finals, 6-1, 6-1. Another champion defense in terms of churn, there are more reasons to wonder what caused the most reliable clay player in the women’s game to lower her level?
It sounds like Swiatek pointed out some issues. She had trouble in her mind, which led to bad decisions.
Come find social content and leave a deep surprise!Iga Swiatek received Tiramisu during Media Day in Rome. pic.twitter.com/u5i1cmd8ip
– Jimmie48 Photography (@Jjlovestennis) May 6, 2025
“I feel like I’m struggling more with perfectionism this year,” Sweetke said on Media Day in Rome. “I wanted to make sure I focused on doing discipline in court and making the right choices, not the choices that pop up in my mind at times, but really solid. I think I can do it. That’s my main focus right now.”
Maybe it’s really simple. Just accept the struggle, play simple, grind games, and really focus on the mode that works all the time.
Swiatek will surely make a sudden change in Rome, while Paris will make a sudden change, where the surface is slower, suitable for her game, like a warm glove in winter death. The slower conditions will give her more time to build her own model and focus on “really solid.”
And if you take the loss to Gauff, and in the quarterfinals of Madrid’s defeat of Madison Keys, you can say Swiatek is not far from her best. Without any first round losses, in Stuttgart, she finally won Ostapenko.
The 23-year-old World No. 2 kept his comfort, while sounding a little impatient.
Three-time champions returned to her living room!Iga Swiatek practices at Campo Centrale on Monday. pic.twitter.com/qe3uq7kier
– Jimmie48 Photography (@Jjlovestennis) May 5, 2025
“The game with Coco is certainly not very good,” she said. “I had a hard time focusing. I had a bad move. I think everything was built in a flash. That’s why the scores were like that.
“Of course, I’m happy with consistency. It’s something I’ve always wanted. There were no matches to play, and I wasn’t ready. But for sure, I want to win some matches too. That’s the goal too.”
While some may wonder about Swiatek’s relationship with coach Wim Fissette, Pole had nothing to say to him during her press conference in Rome. She sounds like a player and she believes she will soon end her championship drought.
“It’s like a day,” she said of Madrid’s golf. “You can’t judge everything through it. I’m continuing the work I’ve been doing. I believe in the process. We’ll see in the next process.”
