Swiatek: "Maybe it will take an entire season to overcome this defeat"

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If there was any surprise missing to tell in this first week of competition, Iga Swiatek bid farewell to Roland Garros in the round of 16, thus closing a clay court tour that has not brought her any joy.

By the way, it is the second clay court tour from which Iga Swiatek leaves empty-handed. When spring 2027 arrives, the Polish player will have gone three natural years without lifting a title on clay, a surface where she has always shown herself to be indefatigable. The thing is, Marta Kostyuk was one of those possible candidates to stop her and it has been proven, extending her winning streak in a spring that confirms that the Ukrainian is ready to defeat anyone, including Swiatek who left Paris with a very sad face.

Iga Swiatek reflects on her loss to Marta Kostyuk

"Clearly, it wasn't a good day at the office. There were many things that I could have handled a bit better, but today was very difficult for me to maintain the level I wanted. Obviously, at this stage, any opponent in the fourth round has already played several matches and will seize the opportunity. So, congratulations to Marta."

All defeats hurt

"I feel that maybe it matters even more to me, but it has always mattered. Sometimes there are defeats that are hard to move on from because you know it just wasn't your day or because your opponent was better. I guess it depends on the reason for your loss. Today, obviously, it wasn't pleasant after the match because I know I can play better, but today I couldn't. I did my best to handle it, but it was difficult, and now all I can do is learn from it, work, and try to do better next time."

Reasons for the loss against Kostyuk

"I clearly lost control of the match and couldn't find a way back because I was feeling worse and worse. So, that's not positive and it's different from losing to Elina in Rome or against Andreeva in Stuttgart. It's not good, I know I lost because I was tense and my body couldn't do what it needed to properly, but it's not the first time, so I need to work on that. Honestly, for me, the toughest loss is when you have the match in your hands, make silly decisions, let it slip away, and your opponent comes back. It's also bad when your tennis is simply terrible and you know you were worse than the player you were playing against. I feel like today I lost because Marta took the opportunity and I was very tense. I think at least I can work on that, and there is a reason, maybe a solution. It may not take a week or a month, maybe it will take a whole season or something, but I need to believe that I can overcome it and not collapse so quickly."

It's too early to think about the grass court season

"I don't know, I haven't even thought about the grass yet, it's hard to say. Last year was great, but my previous results weren't bad either [...] Well, it depends on how you look at them. I'll probably take it easy, try to be patient and humble. I don't know how it will go, I'm not a magician. First, I want to rest and then practice, I'm not planning anything yet, I don't even think the team is planning anything yet. I have some commitments that I always do after Roland Garros, and then I'll probably go somewhere outside of Poland to train on grass because it's hard to practice on grass in Poland."

Why was Swiatek so tense against Kostyuk?

"This is not a therapy session (laughs), so I'll keep it simple, but there can obviously be many reasons. I prefer to work on it on my own, but I've been struggling a bit more to manage stress lately, especially I feel like the peak was in the United States this year. Today I felt disconnected and made mistakes I didn't want to make. I wanted to play safely, but the ball was going everywhere. Suddenly those feelings came back, and I tried to work on them with my inner dialogue, but today was very difficult. Everything started to drastically go downhill, and I played worse and worse."

The heat in Paris is not an excuse

"I lowered the tension of the rackets, but still felt like the ball was going very long. It's hard to say, maybe my hand was slower, not because of the temperature, but because of how I felt today. That's why I couldn't put in more balls, maybe I lowered the tension too much. Now it's impossible to check, but honestly, if you feel good and play well, you can probably win with any racket. I find it hard to say for sure, but I didn't lose because of that."

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Swiatek: “Tal vez tome una temporada entera superar esta derrota”