Swiatek opens up: "This is the most challenging season of my life"

2026 is not turning out to be the year I expected Iga Swiatek. After a surprising 2025 where she was crowned champion at Wimbledon and closed the year with a title at the WTA Seoul, it felt like 2026 could be her year of redemption. However, in March, she ended her time with Wim Fissette, and despite showing signs of improvement following her partnership with Francis Roig, the Polish player finishes the season without a Grand Slam for the first time since 2020. Nevertheless, she still has reasons to fight, and the WTA 1000 in Wuhan is one of them.

In the last WTA 1000 of the season, she debuted with a victory, sweeping her compatriot Magdalena Frech 6-2, 6-1. Before thinking about her next match against Ashlyn Krueger, the Warsaw native attended a press conference. There, she did not hesitate to confess that this 2026 is proving to be the most challenging tennis year of her successful career.

Swiatek expressed satisfaction with her debut at the WTA 1000 in Wuhan

"I'm happy to have played my first match on center court because I hadn't had the opportunity to do so before. At first, it was a very close match, where it was a point-by-point battle, but I'm satisfied because bit by bit, I started making fewer errors and was able to take advantage of my opportunities until the end. In any case, it was a more complicated match than the score reflects."

Swiatek confesses that this is her worst year as a professional tennis player

"Every season has been very different, so there is no magic formula or one-size-fits-all solution. I'm glad to have maintained that consistency despite facing different challenges each year. Without a doubt, this season has been the most complicated of my life. That’s why every victory still holds significant value for me. Obviously, I will try to accumulate as many as I can until the end of the year."

Swiatek highlights what she has learned the most from 2026

"I think the most important thing has been learning to keep fighting even when things go wrong or don't turn out as expected, and to look for different solutions to try to turn complicated situations around. Probably, the big lesson I’m taking away is that nothing is going to be easy. Until now, my career had followed a pretty upward trajectory. Even when I went through tough times, sooner or later, I would get a good result and feel better again."

"This year, however, things have been more difficult. I believe I’ve learned to be mentally stronger, to value small successes, and to not measure my happiness solely by results. It’s also important to enjoy the process, the daily work, and everything you do to improve. You need to learn to value those things to keep moving forward even when results don’t come."

Swiatek reveals her routine when she has to play early

"When I play early, the main challenge is to get to bed early the night before. Then, once you wake up, you have to find the energy necessary to compete. Today, at the beginning, I felt like I needed to find my rhythm and get fully into the match. I was making some mistakes and needed to increase my level of concentration. I think I was able to do that as the match progressed."

"It also depends on the tournament. I would say that here in China, it is a little harder to adjust to morning matches because of the time difference. Furthermore, when you progress in a tournament, sometimes you play matches that finish very late, and at the next event, you have to compete early again. I also played early in Beijing, so I think I’m already used to it. Today, I just needed to find my energy and get into the match," concludes Iga Swiatek, who is looking to polish a forgettable 2026.
 

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Swiatek se sincera: "Está siendo la temporada más complicada de mi vida"