Swiatek’s Wimbledon run lasted only until the third round.
Iga Swiatek had a pretty clear idea of what contributed to her shock Wimbledon third-round exit as the five-time Grand Slam champion said she “did not rest properly” after the French Open but also added that she “knows” what to change going forward.
After finishing the clay season with three consecutive titles at the Madrid Open, Rome Open and French Open, Swiatek also managed to get through her opening two matches at Wimbledon. But on Saturday, the Pole’s run of 21 wins in a row came to an abrupt end after 35th-ranked Yulia Putintseva stunned the five-time Grand Slam champion 3-6 6-1 6-2.
After the match started well for Swiatek and went up by a set, something happened that completely changed the momentum and rhythm of the match as Swiatek’s game at one point just shut down.
Later in her press, the 23-year-old blamed not doing the right things after the French Open for her loss.
“My tank of pushing myself to the limits became suddenly empty. I was kind of surprised. But I know what I did wrong after Roland Garros. I didn’t rest properly and I’m not going to make this mistake again,” Swiatek said.
“After such a tough clay court season, I really must have my recovery. I thought that I was going to be able to kind of play at the same level. I feel like on grass I need a little bit more of that energy to keep being patient and accept some mistakes.
“I literally came back to work – not tennis-wise, but off-court stuff – and I shouldn’t have done that. Maybe next year I’m going to take a vacation and literally just do nothing. We planned the year that way so I don’t have to do a lot before the Olympics.”
What Swiatek said about her collapse and what she plans to do?
After Swiatek got the first break of the match in the sixth game, she faced some difficulties when serving for the first set in the ninth game but still managed to seal the opener after saving three break points in that game.
At the start of the second set, Putintseva held to her opening service game before Swiatek also won her service game to tie the second set to one game apiece. Then came the moment when everything changed – Putintseva won the next nine games to force a decider and also open a 4-0 lead there before Swiatek finally again won one of her service games.
But losing nine games in a row was too much to overcome even for Swiatek as Putintseva sealed the deal in the eighth game of her serve.
After the loss, Swiatek wasn’t happy with how her energy suddenly dropped but also with her inability to correct it. However, she added that she knows how to address that.
“For sure, I felt like my energy level went down little bit in the second set. I couldn’t really get back up. I know what I need to change, and I’ll do that. But grass season is over, so it’s not like I need to really think about this match in terms of analyzing for next week because basically it’s going to be totally different on clay and hard court,” Swiatek explained.
Swiatek admits she ‘underachieved’ at Wimbledon
After arriving at Wimbledon, Swiatek noted that she reached the point where she is never considered an underdog. And even though she also said that she didn’t want to put major pressure or expectations on herself, it wasn’t a secret that the 23-year-old Pole was hoping to do well and potentially win her first Wimbledon and grass title.
But just like two years ago, Swiatek’s Wimbledon run ended with a shock defeat in the third round.
“For me going from this kind of tennis where I felt like I’m playing the best tennis in my life to another surface where I kind of struggle a little bit more, it’s not easy. I lost in the third round. I felt like I underachieved a little bit. But it’s tennis, so you have to move on. I’ll have many more chances this year to show my game. I’ll just focus on that,” Swiatek. said.
For Swiatek, there won’t be too much time for her to dwell on her early Wimbledon exit since the Paris Olympics are starting on July 26th and winning the gold medal there will be her big goal.
It remains to be seen if a disappointing Wimbledon run will have any impact on Swiatek at the Paris Olympics.
