The tennis world expected to see Iga Swiatek end her trophy drought during the clay swing but in every tournament she played on the surface, she failed to reach the final. Swiatek, in fact, hasn’t yet progressed to a championship match since winning her fourth Roland Garros title last year by beating Jasmine Paolini.
The 24-year-old produced a strong performance in the recently concluded French Open but her campaign ended in the semifinal after a three-set defeat to eventual runner-up Aryna Sabalenka, who still trails 5-8 in the head-to-head matchups. Former ATP pro Jimmy Connors advised the Pole to start focusing on what she must do to beat her big rivals as he thinks this can help her get back to the top level. He said on his Advantage Connors podcast:
When you are struggling and have not made a final for a year, you need to figure out what you need to do. What do I need to do to beat Coco [Gauff]? What do I need to do to beat Sabalenka? What do I need to do to beat [Madison] Keys? Then your mind should be working and your game should be working in a direction of what do I need to do to add to that.
Swiatek was the fifth seed in the clay-court Major. As she couldn’t defend her French Open title, she dropped to the seventh position on the rankings table with 4,618 points.
The grass court season has started and Swiatek will be aiming to win her first title on the surface. At Wimbledon, the five-time Grand Slam champion has never progressed beyond the quarterfinals. Last year, Yulia Putintseva came from a set down to knock her out of the grass-court Major in the third round.
Jimmy Connors defends Aryna Sabalenka over her Iga Swiatek and other comments after her defeat to Coco Gauff
Aryna Sabalenka was censured by several former players after her French Open defeat. During the runner-up speech, Sabalenka criticized her game, saying she played “terrible tennis“.