Iga Swiatek’s latest struggles confirmed no signal of easing as she suffered a crushing 6-1, 6-1 defeat to Coco Gauff within the Madrid Open semifinals on Thursday, extending a irritating streak the place she hasn’t reached a remaining since profitable her fourth French Open title final June.
Despite being ranked No. 2 on the earth, Swiatek’s efficiency was marked by evident points with motion, an element that plagued her all through the match.
“I feel like I haven’t been moving well,” mentioned Swiatek after the match, including that her tennis had been “on and off” all week. The lack of a strong sport plan or backup plan left her floundering on the courtroom. “Nothing was working today,” she admitted.
This defeat marked the second consecutive day Swiatek had dropped six video games in a row, the identical final result she confronted in opposition to Madison Keys within the quarterfinals after a 0-6 first set. Earlier within the match, she had struggled in opposition to teen sensation Alexandra Eala, discovering herself a set and break down earlier than mounting a comeback.
Swiatek expressed frustration at not having the ability to regain her rhythm.
“Everything kind of collapsed,” she defined. Her lack of fluidity was most evident in her motion. “I wasn’t even in the right place with my feet,” she mentioned. “I feel like I wasn’t moving well, and I think that was the key reason I couldn’t bounce back.”
The 23-year-old had by no means been crushed so comprehensively lately. Her final loss with such a scoreline was a 6-0, 6-2 drubbing by Jelena Ostapenko in 2019.
While Swiatek’s psychological energy remained intact, her bodily limitations had been clear. “I’ve been forcing myself to move lower, to be more precise with my feet, because it’s not coming naturally,” she revealed. However, she was optimistic that, with time, issues would click on. “Hopefully, one day it’s going to click, but I’m not expecting anything. I’m just going to keep working,” she added.
Swiatek, who’s broadly considered one of many hardest clay-court gamers of her era, didn’t attribute her struggles to an absence of self-confidence. “I’m not a special participant than I used to be prior to now,” she mentioned.
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