RANDOM THOUGHTS OF A LURKER

WTA Finals looking for a new host as contract with Saudi Arabia comes to an end at the end of the year

2026-04-03T00:00:00.000-04:00

Ben Rothenberg, one of the world's most renowned tennis journalists, announced that Saudi Arabia will no longer host the 2027 WTA Finals starting in 2027. The tournament, which concludes the year-long competition, will instead be held in North America. Here are the details.

"We signed a three-year contract, but we would gladly stay here longer than we originally planned," WTA Director General Portia Archer said some time ago, adding in "The Athletic" that talks are underway to extend the cooperation beyond 2024-2026.

According to Rothenberg, the WTA's talks with the Saudi Arabian Tennis Federation have ended in failure. This effectively means a move, and the organization is already searching for a new host for one of the most prestigious events on the tennis calendar, featuring eight of the season's best players.

Charlotte to take over the WTA Finals?!

According to media reports, North America is the new destination. Charlotte is the most frequently mentioned destination . Interestingly, the WTA Finals have been held on this continent for many years in the past, and outside the United States, the world's best tennis players have visited Mexico, among other places.

In previous years, the tournament that ends each season was also held in Schengen, Singapore, Istanbul, Doha, Madrid and Munich.

The previous tournament was won by Jelena Rybakina, who defeated Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 7-6(0) in the final. In 2023, Iga Świątek emerged victorious, defeating Jessica Pegula 6-1, 6-0 in the deciding set. In 2015, Agnieszka Radwańska triumphed, leaving Petra Kvitová in the dust—6-2, 4-6, 6-3.

onet.pl

Having the tournament in America would certainly be advantageous for the American players not so much for the Europeans and vice versa.

But given what's currently going on in the world with the war in the middle east, not to mention Saudi Arabia's horrendous human rights record and everything associated with that.

It's definitely for the best that it relocates where ever it ends up being hosted.

Even if it takes a few years to find a permanent home, it'll be better in the long run for the WTA and it's athletes.

Iga Swiatek changes coaches Wim Fisette out, former Nadal coach Francisco Roig in

2026-04-02T21:49:00.004-04:00

Iga Swiatek has changed her coach for just the fourth time in her career but a decision like that has proved to be very effective in the past.

The 24-year-old confirmed on Thursday that Francos Roig would be joining her coaching team, bringing with him the experience of coaching Rafa Nadal, but there is pressure on the latter given just how well her previous coaches have done.

Since turning pro in 2016, Swiatek has had just three permanent coaches and all of them have helped changed or develop her game.

The first was Piotr Sierzputowski who oversaw Swiatek’s transition into a pro player. Swiatek clinched her first slam, the 2020 French Open under Sierzputowski as she defeated Sofia Kenin 6-4, 6-1 in the Paris final.

After a five years together, Swiatek announced in December 2021 she was parting ways with her long-time coach.

Tomasz Wiktorowski was appointed, who has been Swiatek’s most successful coach to date. Under the Pole, Swiatek won the French Open on three occasions as well as the 2022 US Open.

In October 2024, they then parted ways before Belgian coach Wim Fiesste was appointed late that month. That marked another turning point in Swiatek’s career as she clinched the Wimbledon title for the first time in 2025.

That relationship came to an end after Swiatek suffered a second round defeat in Miami which opened the vacancy for Roig to come in.

While Roig is no stranger to Grand Slams, the history of Swiatek and her coaches represents a very high bar in terms of what is to be expected. That shock defeat in Miami has also seen Swiatek drop to her lowest ranking since June 2025.

as for why she made the change Swiatek said she does not usually like to make coaching alterations after a tournament exit but expressed a desire to feel good on the court again, an element she found had gone missing of late.

“I wouldn’t make such a decision hastily. Sometimes you can see me as an emotional person, but I really don’t make decisions impulsively. I’m quite rational. I like to give myself time to make a decision.

“Besides, I don’t make many changes to the team. I think it’s a very good approach. I like to give the team the opportunity to ‘reset’ ourselves and start working a little differently.

“However, in this case, I felt that it was simply time for a change. Yes, it was not a decision made in Miami – it was a longer process in which I thought everything through carefully.

“During the tournament in Doha, I realized that I don’t feel as good on the court as before,” she continued.

“Of course, at different tournaments there may be different reasons for a worse disposition – sometimes I just know that I was not focused that day, sometimes the forehand failed me, sometimes something else.”

tennis365.com

Very interesting choice, really hope he helps Iga find her solid foundation again, and the joy along the way as well.

Also is there anything better than seeing Iga one of the best women clay courters in recent times on clay at Rafael Nadal's Academy in a training session with the king of clay himself?.

I think not.

Talk about inspiring.

Has to feel very uplifting for Iga as well, what's better than getting pointers for clay from your childhood idol :).

Watch out clay season, Iga 'Queen of Clay' Swiatek is gonna find her groove again this year :).

Iga Swiatek interview with Polish media: tennis, life on the road and reading books

2026-04-01T21:59:00.001-04:00

I want to feel like a wall on the court again," says Iga Świątek in an interview with Sport.pl. This conversation isn't just about tennis. In it, see the Iga you won't meet on the court.

Iga Świątek has a new coach – she'll be announcing his name soon. She wants to step into the arena she knows best, the one she feels most confident on, with renewed energy and enthusiasm: clay.

The powerhouses Aryna Sabalenka, Jelena Rybakina, Coco Gauff, and Amanda Anisimova have all stormed the tennis world . How does Świątek hope to regain her advantage? How can she match them and beat them? Will Rafael Nadal help her?

This interview isn't just about tennis, though. I'd like you to see the Iga you don't often see. Because you usually see her on the court, drenched in sweat from exertion. Most often, happy after victories, but lately, also disappointed, experiencing painful defeats, like against Magda Linette in Miami.

Radosław Leniarski: How do you feel after an extraordinary, unprecedented series at this time of the tennis season - two weeks at home.

- I wouldn't count it in weeks. It would be more like... hmm, about 10 days.

It was pretty intense, but that's usually how it is when I get home. There are a lot of things I don't have time for when tournaments are on.

I'm glad I was able to catch up and see my friends. I had a few days off at first, but then I started working a bit at the gym and on the court.

I've had time to reflect on the situation. Now I feel calm and excited about the upcoming clay court season. This has always been my favorite surface. I was truly happy when I stepped onto the court and played on clay for my first practice session.

It's been two weeks since your loss to Magda Linette in Miami and since you spoke so honestly about yourself after that match. Do you now have a better understanding of why things have been so difficult for you on the court lately?

- In life there is rarely one solution to a complex problem.

I feel like I wasn't at my best when it came to confidence, and that showed on the court. I didn't feel confident in my skills. That's something I'm focusing on now—getting back to the skills I've always had and that helped me through the toughest moments, because those situations are bound to happen on the court. Tennis is a professional sport—you're competing against someone who wants to put pressure on you. My response to that wasn't the best.

I know what I want to do and how I want to work on my tennis . It's true that the last few matches haven't been easy – no one likes to lose, and defeats like those against Magda are painful. But honestly, I would have been more scared if I hadn't felt anything after losing to Magda. I felt a lot of motivation; I really wanted to get back on the court and work on myself.

The split with coach Wim Fissett wasn't just a result of the loss to Magda—even if it hurt. How did the decision to end the relationship develop?

"This is between us. I don't want to go into details. It's definitely not something someone like me decides to do after one failure. I wouldn't make such a decision lightly. Sometimes you can see me as an emotional person, but I really don't make decisions impulsively. I'm quite rational. I like to give myself time to make decisions. Besides, I don't make many changes within the team. I think that's a very good approach. I like to give the team the opportunity to "reset" and start working a little differently."

However, in this case, I felt it was simply time for a change. Yes, it wasn't a decision made in Miami—it was a longer process during which I carefully considered everything.

During the tournament in Doha, I realized I wasn't feeling as good on court as I had before. Of course, different tournaments can have different reasons for a poor performance—sometimes I just know I wasn't focused that day, sometimes my forehand was failing, sometimes something else. It happens. But I felt like I wasn't playing as well, and that's why I started losing confidence .

After my loss to Maria Sakkari, we sat down and had a long talk. We discussed what to change and how to approach the following week so I could get back to my solid game. And indeed, we made some progress before Indian Wells. But when I considered the whole picture, I decided I needed a change.

Honestly, I learned a lot about myself during this process. There were different moments, different approaches and retreats – this stage lasted several weeks.

And during this time you were looking for a new coach?

"No, I couldn't do it behind my team's back. I'm honest with the people I work with."

Of course, I'm aware of what's going on in the coaching market, as we're at tournaments almost year-round. I asked several people with extensive experience on the WTA Tour. I considered changing, but I didn't actively pursue it. Because if you're working with someone, you have to give their efforts a chance; you have to trust them.

I still entered tournaments where I wanted to play well, so I tried to stay present and focused on the game . Maybe that's why it wasn't perfect, to put it mildly, because it's hard to completely shut out all thoughts. Still, I tried; that was the goal, and I tried to achieve it.

What would be your ideal trainer, the one you are looking for or perhaps have already found?

- That's a good question, although you shouldn't judge a person only from that perspective.

The ideal coach should possess excellent skills. An eye for the game. A sense of what a player needs—both short and long term. They must be able to make the right decisions: when to introduce new moves and drills, when to start changing the game, and when to build on their player's strengths.

Personally, they should be understanding and have good communication skills, as they should be a team leader. They must bring everyone's work together and ensure everything works together.

It has to be someone you just enjoy spending time with, because the tournaments are long and there is also a lot of free time.

The key is to find the right balance between all of this.

I have a more important question, which is: not who, but what are you looking for?

"I want to get back to solid foundations and feel like I'm a rock on the court again—I don't make mistakes and I force my opponents to make them. I've always had that. That was my advantage—I put pressure on the court, and that gave me an advantage. I feel like I enjoy tennis most when I'm solid. When I'm not, I take unnecessary risks and make many more mistakes. I want to get back to solidity. But that requires work on the court. If someone doesn't feel comfortable on the court, they simply have to work hard. There are also moments when everything clicks—that's when you can introduce new elements, learn new skills."

I'd like to have more variety in my game and sometimes use what I do in training in matches—have the courage to make those decisions. But for now, I'm mainly focusing on the first part—hard work and building consistency.

There are rumors that you're heading to Mallorca soon. Did you find a worthy partner there?

"I'm sure you can find a new piece of gossip every day. I imagine you've been reading a lot of them lately."

Ha, such a disappointment. Is it true that Rafael Nadal helped you find a coach? And is it true that he'll be at your box in Stuttgart and at other clay tournaments?

"You know, Rafa is my idol and basically the only person I watched play tennis as a child. He was also kind enough to talk to me several times during his career and give me tips. He's the person I can turn to if I need help or have a problem.

Having someone so experienced—the best, the GOAT, in fact—is obviously a fantastic opportunity, and I'll take advantage of it if I can. Rafa is very open. He's a great guy. Just having his number and being able to contact him is a huge honor. But honestly, whether he helped me [with choosing a coach - rl] or not, I'd like to keep it between us, because he's part of this story. I wouldn't want to put him in an awkward position.

I mentioned at the beginning that the last few weeks have been tumultuous for you, but it was also probably the most difficult time because of the reaction in Poland to your losses, especially in Miami. How do you feel about that?

"I've been in the tennis world, and therefore in the public eye, for a long time. Despite this, I'm increasingly terrified by what people post online. I have the impression it's heading in a very bad direction."

It surprises me that people who only saw me when I was 10 or 12 are suddenly being asked what I'm "really" like and what I should be doing with my life or on the court. It's a bit like asking a kindergarten teacher who knew a child for a year what they're like as an adult—it's absurd. The internet doesn't work logically. It doesn't allow for mistakes or time to understand something. It simply judges—and does so very harshly.

This, of course, isn't a pleasant part of my job. Regarding journalism, I think many articles are written for business reasons—for money, statistics, page views, and catchy or even false headlines. It's absurd, but unfortunately, that's the reality. I don't know if it can change. I wish there were more people in Poland who truly understand tennis and approach it more rationally. Most of those quoted in the media have never even been to a tournament. After all, only my closest friends know my doubts, what I want to improve, and what I want to focus on in the future. Sometimes, like now, I have the opportunity to talk a little about it, but most of the time I have to focus on myself, not explain what tennis is all about. I want to be focused on myself. I think we deserve some space and basic respect—both me and the team that got me to this point and helped me achieve so many great results.

Unfortunately, this respect is sorely lacking on the Internet and in some media, which is simply sad.

What role does your psychologist, Daria Abramowicz, play in your team? This has sparked much debate due to the intense attention paid to your collaboration. Many people feel you're too close and that her role is too important.

"I decide who I work with. And honestly, most of the negative things I saw somewhere—I try not to read into it, but something's getting through to me—were just fake news and theories made up to cause confusion."

People have no idea what it's like – I'm the one making the decisions about collaboration. Of course, I can ask my team members for their opinion – and I do if I need to – because I have very experienced people around me: from the management team to the people I spend weeks on tour with, like Maciek [Ryszczuk], my physical conditioning coach, and Daria as my mental conditioning coach.

Regarding the articles about Daria - for years she was credited with my success on the court, as it was possible thanks to, among other things, mental strength, and now, with the decline in form and results, suddenly she is to blame.

But I try to base my decisions on my own judgment, because only then can I truly believe in them and be convinced that it's the right choice. Although a coach should be the leader of the team, I try to be that leader and lead my team.

Okay. Let's talk about books. They can save us. Where did your passion for books come from?

"It started very early because my parents encouraged me to read. I always enjoyed it. Books gave me a different perspective on life and allowed me to learn different ways of approaching life. When I read about a character, I could identify with them if I needed or wanted to. Ever since I was a child, I've always found something in books that interested me. If there was a strong female protagonist, I really enjoyed it. For example, in 'The Hunger Games.' Or if a book had historical themes and the action took place, say, 400 years ago, I'd try to learn a bit of history along the way. Books are a great way to unwind and "turn off my head." They helped me maintain balance during difficult times. When I sometimes went a month without reading, I'd stop and wonder if there was something wrong with me, since I couldn't even find the time to read."

Fortunately, this hasn't happened to me in recent years. I'm in a good reading rhythm. I usually combine it with watching TV series, but now I just read, and I really enjoy it.

What are you reading now?

- I shouldn't say because I'm planning to post a reading challenge about this book, so I'll keep it a secret for now.

Good decision. So, do you have a favorite book?

"I can't choose just one. When it comes to fantasy, when I was younger, I loved "The Hunger Games." When it comes to crime novels, I love the "Millennium" series and Camilla Läckberg's books. When it comes to historical novels, I love mainly Ken Follett. I really like Jane Austen. Besides, at different times in life, you need different things—sometimes something lighter, sometimes more serious."

I saw you've read "The Sting." It seems like a simple novel, yet it's complex, isn't it? What drew you to it?

"At first, I liked how the author changed his style in different chapters. You could see him writing from the perspective of a ten-year-old, then a teenager, and then adults, some more educated, others a little less so, with different lifestyles. Later, I liked how he tied all these stories together. How he revisited the past. And then how he tied them all together and finished with a high C in terms of intensity. The emotional peak is such that you can't sit still, you have to read, you can't put it down. At the end, everything happens. And then there's the unfinished ending."

Say no more. Don't spoil anything. Do you read, for example, the new American prose, neorealism?

"I've read American classics. 'To Kill a Mockingbird.' 'Gone with the Wind.' 'Gone with the Wind' was wonderful. These are books you simply have to know. I don't really care, I admit, whether it's an American, British, or French book, because I like them all. Italian, Spanish too. I read everything. I don't focus on one particular country."

My daughter asked me to tell you that if you liked "The Sting," you should definitely pick up Jonathan Franzen's "Freedom." And my favorite: Barbara Kingsolver's "Damon Copperhead."

- I'm writing down Franzen. I've read "Copperhead."

If I understand correctly, you described tennis as a kind of mental game. Does literature help you cope with this?

- Hmm, reading helps me relax better, but it also teaches me to concentrate.

There are so many things going on these days that we often do several things at once. Meanwhile, tennis, reading, or playing an instrument, for example, require complete concentration to do them well and derive pleasure from them. Therefore, this is a great way to practice concentration. When you get into a good rhythm while reading, the feeling is similar. Sometimes I don't even notice I've read 50 pages. It can be the same on the court – once I get into a rhythm, I suddenly realize I've already played three games and won most of the points.

Do your rivals read too? Is that common?

"Good question... We tend to read in hotels, not on the courts, so I don't know the details. Beatriz Haddad Maia reads a lot. She recommended a lot of books to me last year."

Do you exchange books?

- No, because she reads Portuguese and I read Polish. We share titles.

We seem to be experiencing a tennis boom in Poland, and parents want their daughters to be just like you. How do you become a tennis star in Poland? And do you consider yourself Polish, or are female tennis players more cosmopolitan?

"We spend a lot of time at international tournaments, so we could live in different places. But it's always good to have a home base, a place to come back to—so I definitely feel Polish. However, if someone told me that in 10 years I'd be living in Sydney or Italy, I wouldn't be surprised."

How do you become a tennis player in Poland? That's a difficult question. When I started, there wasn't a well-developed system. I never received a wild card. I always had to fight my way into the tournament. There were many ups and downs along the way. I was quite lucky, because so many things could have gone wrong. My dad had to find a way to guide me himself—through various coaches, through financial difficulties. That's why I feel very fortunate to be where I am at all.

Is tennis still an elite sport in Poland?

"I think so. In my case, everything was financed by my dad. He had to pay for the courts and the coaches. When I was a child, we literally used every minute on the court – because of the hourly rate. There was no time to waste. The same with the coach. There were times when we didn't have the money to continue my training and competitions. My dad had to look for different solutions. Generally speaking, people who believe in you are very important. Because if a coach only cares about money, you might not find it in Poland. But if you find a coach who truly believes, guides, and supports you in difficult moments, it's incredibly lucky. I had such people close to me. Without them, I wouldn't have made it this far – I wouldn't have even passed the first stage. So a huge part of the credit goes to my dad for finding a way for me to keep going."

Well, there's an important thing to say about tennis – it's the sport with the greatest gender equality, the sport of Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova. Do you think the same way about it?

"Of course. He was a pioneer in bringing about change for women. This is where the transformation in women's sports began. There were many pioneers in tennis, and without them, we wouldn't be where we are today. Now, other sports—like the women's NBA or women's soccer —are driving change. They have their own incredible stories and players who capture the imagination."

We've talked about how tennis is an elite sport, how it creates stars. But even stars need their personal time. How do you spend your time in Warsaw, in Raszyn? Do you go to the cinema, take walks, do you have time for that?

- Not in Raszyn anymore, because I moved out of my family home. The last time I went to the cinema was in December. Luckily, the cinema is dark, so I was hoping for a little more privacy.
Did you have any?

- Yes, absolutely.

I was with my friends. The only light in front of us was a popcorn box, which was glowing reflectively.

I don't go out to restaurants very often. It's more convenient to invite people over. During the season, we have the opportunity to eat at amazing restaurants all over the world, and when I'm in Warsaw, I'd rather have home-cooked food or something I've made myself, although I'm not a very good cook, so I usually eat what my friends have prepared. I spend this time rather quietly and peacefully. Sometimes I'll go on a bike ride, but I generally avoid walking in the capital. Recently, while riding my bike, someone shouted "Iga! Iga!" behind me, so I can feel the interest.

What about life on the road? When you arrive at a hotel—after all, you go to almost the same places every year—you have your own suite, the staff welcomes you, and you feel a bit like home?

"It depends on the place. In some, I'm just a regular guest. There are hotels that invite us in. Then it's very nice. We can ask for the same room as last year. Or a different one, because after years of staying in the same places, the same room can get a little boring. In Rome, I've been staying in the same hotel for years. Not even because it's outstanding. It's the location – I know exactly how long it will take me to walk to the store to buy vegetables or some fruit. It's convenient. I don't have to think about anything or look it up on a map. I usually have my favorite places and try to stay in them to make life more pleasant during my constant travels."

Now you're going away for a short time, but sometimes you go on really long trips. What do you take with you then? How many books?

"Luckily, I have a Kindle. But I used to have a real problem when I only read in print. I once took books on a trip that didn't grab me, and I stopped after 50 pages. That's why I switched to a Kindle."

We take a lot of luggage with us. Especially Maciek [Ryszczuk's] physiotherapy equipment. The warm-up bag alone, which we use every day before training, weighs 10 kilos. Besides the obvious, I also regularly change my wardrobe. I should probably have more, but I admit I have my favorites. I don't mind wearing something again. I don't replace clothes after one wear, like some celebrities. Sometimes I also change my jewelry

The next tournament is in Stuttgart. Is this a home tournament for you?

"It's the first clay-court tournament of the season, so you can settle into the rhythm a bit more easily and get a feel for the surface. It's unique and demanding. I like going back there, getting a feel for the court and the ball, focusing on the game, and not overanalyzing everything. The tournament is short—you arrive, play your matches, enjoy it, and then leave. There's no long wait between matches like in other tournaments. This gives it a different atmosphere—it's more dynamic."

The atmosphere there is always amazing. It's actually the only indoor tournament I play in. When the stadium is closed, I feel the crowd much more. It's very pleasant. It's also elegant. The fans are interested in tennis and know how to cheer on the players. It's the closest tournament to Poland that I play in, so many Polish fans often come there. I'm always happy to play there.

sport.pl

Iga Swiatek's run of 73 consecutive WTA opening round matches ends with early Miami loss

2026-03-19T22:45:00.014-04:00

Goodbye to this legendary stat it'll always be part of the sports history

Iga Świątek said she is in “the worst nightmare a tennis player can have” after one of the most absurd win-streaks in tennis ended with a shock defeat to compatriot Magda Linette at the Miami Open.

Linette, the world No. 50 snapped Świątek’s run of 73 consecutive opening-match wins, which dated back to 2021, in a 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 result that left the six-time Grand Slam champion telling reporters that tennis “feels complicated in my head.”

“I’ve always been an over-thinker, but lately it’s just been so intense. It’s hard for me to get rid of many thoughts I have and this used to be my strength,” Świątek said.

It was March 2019, before Świątek had reached the world’s top 100, when she last lost a match having won the first set 6-0 or 6-1.

The defeat represents a low point in an up-and-down season for Świątek. Since hiring experienced Belgian coach Wim Fissette toward the end of the 2024 season, she has had mixed results as she works through finding the right balance between baseline patience and going for too much when under stress. The highlight was last summer’s Wimbledon title, but overall Świątek has struggled to find the form that made her such a dominant world No. 1 for the previous few years. Her ranking is now No. 3.

Świątek has frequently vented her frustration at her team, which includes long-term psychologist Daria Abramowicz. This dynamic was particularly apparent toward the end of last week’s quarterfinal defeat to Elina Svitolina at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif, which followed one of her best performances of the year: a suffocatingly restrained 6-2, 6-0 win over Karolína Muchová.

This loss to Linette did not follow a recent trend of Świątek imploding when things have gone against her, which has been worsened by the unreliability of her first serve. Against Linette, Świątek only dropped her serve twice, but made frequent return errors that prevented her from putting any pressure on her opponent, who won just two games in their last meeting.

Though the scoreline and the tennis did not show it, Świątek said she experienced the loss as a kind of collapse. Streaks, and the art of front-running, have been defining in her ascent to and stay at the top of the sport. She compiled the longest WTA win-streak of the 21st century in winning 37 matches in a row during 2022. Before a defeat to Maria Sakkari at this year’s Qatar Open, she had won 109 WTA 1000 matches in a row after winning the first set. Between 2022 and 2024, she compiled streaks of 44 and 56 matches in which she did not lose after winning the first set at any level.

“Unconsciously or consciously it’s hard for me to change things, and then my tennis kind of collapses. So I need to work now to get back from that, because for sure I haven’t felt things like that for like five years,” Świątek said.

“I’ve always had something that kept me figuring things out instead of dropping so much during matches. So I’ll just get back to work, try to get something positive out of the practices and some confidence back, and try to figure it out.”

Asked to describe her emotions, Świątek said: “I feel like I carry a lot of expectations, and I can’t really, like, fulfil them right now. I need to get rid of them, because my game hasn’t been good enough to have any expectations. I think I’m a bit confused, but there’s no way but forward, and I’m going to try to just work hard to get back from that. And I know I have it in me; I just lost it for a second: the game and the mentality that I should have on the court.”

Świątek, who during an interview in 2025 said that changes to her game are only “visible on a bigger horizon,” reiterated that sentiment in a segment of her post-match mixed zone reported by Bounces.

“You can’t do, like, one huge step and suddenly it’s not going to — there’s no magic solutions. So I guess you need to do it with small changes, but kind of consistently, and keep your discipline.

“And you know, there’s other stuff — I’ll honestly need time to like figure out and to answer some questions, and I’ll see.”

Świątek may benefit from an unexpectedly long break before the clay-court season, which is scheduled to begin for her at the Stuttgart Open in Germany in mid-April. At the Australian Open in January she spoke about the need to skip certain events to avoid physical and mental burnout, before withdrawing from last month’s Dubai Tennis Championships. World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka withdrew from the same event, before its tournament director criticized both players for not attending.

Clay has tended to be Świątek’s strongest surface, with the French Open accounting for four of her six Grand Slams, though it has masked just how good — if less remarkable — her hard-court record is.

She still lost that sense of invincibility on the dirt last year, failing to win a title on the surface, and exiting the French Open at the semifinal stage in her first defeat at the tournament for four years.

Świątek will hope it can be a sanctuary this year, as she looks for solutions.

nytimes.com

Where to start really, tough tough times for Iga at the moment.

Seems to have completely lost confidence and her candid comments in post match interviews while very much appreciated are also breaking my heart a bit.

It's sad to see her so lost with virtually no idea what to do on court against an opponent she's normally take care of with ease.

Obviously she's going to have to do a lot of soul searching, and make some hard decisions about where to go from here.

Clearly something isn't working with comments like I haven't felt like this in 5 years in that candid interview with the Polish media. That screams alarm bells to me.

There have been many rumors over the years regarding her sports psychologist and that Iga should think about giving her the boot.

I've always held back from making too many comments about all that, but at this point it's become evident that whatever sports psychology was helping Iga before isn't helping her now.

There's a lot of awkwardness, frustration and screaming coming from her box during matches from the psychologist more than her coach which is weird.

I can't help but wonder if it's become more of a dependency thing for Iga than anything else.

Watching her matches this year, it often looked like she wasn't listening to her coach (even when he was giving her good advice).

And I don't know whether that's because Wim is very polite and his methods just don't break through the same way they did with Tomasz Wiktorowski, or if it's a language thing, where the messaging just doesn't come through as effectively.

Or whether there's some sort of a weird power dynamic where the psychologist controls a lot of things within the team (and Wiktorowski was better at dealing with that, but had enough and left which was one of the many rumors also circulating).

Having a travelling psychologist was a rarity and it undoubtedly give her an edge for many years, but something has definitely shifted and now it's become more of a deterrent.

What's most important is that Iga needs a major change and fast whether that's changing someone within the team or maybe taking a break from the sport for a bit (something I doubt she'd be willing to do given how long it took her to skip 1 tournament until this year).

But whatever the change is it needs to happen soon, because at the moment I'm not even sure Iga is enjoying being out there playing.

Might be that she's suffering from a bit of burn out who knows very hard to say, and only Iga knows the real reason.

All I know for sure is that as a fan of Iga and tennis I very much hope she finds her way again.

It'd be a huge shame to waste so much great (and still very much untapped) talent.

Not to mention a huge loss for the sport itself.

Tennis is better with Iga Swiatek's high level in the mix.

So I hope she hangs in there, takes the time and finds some help to steer her in the right direction again.

All the greats have been through similar situations and they've always found a way to comeback stronger.

I believe Iga will too.

I think above all I just want her to find joy again, so that we can share in it as well.

Love all: Kim Clijsters chat with Martina Hingis

2026-03-15T00:00:00.000-04:00

Iga Swiatek falls to Svitolina in Indian Wells Quarterfinals

2026-03-13T19:46:00.001-04:00

Well in any type of progress there's always 2 steps forward one step back. Seems that's what yesterday's match was for Iga vs Svitolina.

I did say I'd need to see more evidence of Iga playing really good players in the top 10 before declaring her being 'back'. Svitolina was the litmus test and unfortunately Iga still didn't pass.

Despite the fact Svitolina didn't have the best day herself.

I just wish these steps backwards for Iga would happen less. It's so hard to gauge where her game is at with nearly flawless performances one minute and complete deterioration the next.

Today the serve really let her down, I realize that she's working on her serve behind the scenes so there'll be a lot of trial and error but the amount of double faults per match are very uncharacteristic and concerning now.

This loss also means a slight drop in the ranking (by 1) for Iga, with Rybakina taking the number 2 spot for the moment.

But honestly that's the least of Iga's worries, if and when she finally finds her game and starts getting more wins then losses against top 10 players the ranking will reflect that.

Until than I'm starting to think we may hit a bit of a further decline position wise.

It's tough as a long time Iga fan to see her struggle this much.

At this rate I almost want her to skip Miami and get ready for the clay swing, but she has quarterfinal points to defend there and it's hard to work on things like your game or match confidence (regardless of the surface) if you don't play any matches especially against top 10 opponents.

Definitely not the result Iga or her fans wanted, but hopefully Iga can look at the 2 matches with Sakkari and Muchova, take it as a positive and build on it.

Whether she'll be able to do that right away in Miami next week hard to say.

We might have to see a change of surface before Iga gets her rhythm back to a more consistent and permanent basis.

That's the hope.

The life of a tennis fan is supporting their favourites in good times and in bad, so that's what I'll do.

I still believe better times are ahead for Iga this year, it's just a matter of when.

Keep your head up Iga, keep working and believe in the process.

Jazda.

Iga Swiatek reaches 5th consecutive quarterfinal at Indian Wells

2026-03-11T20:40:00.002-04:00

INDIAN WELLS -- Karolina Muchova came into this BNP Paribas Open enjoying all kinds of momentum. She was the recent champion at the WTA 1000 event in Doha and had won 14 of 16 matches when she met Iga Swiatek in Wednesday’s fourth-round match.

But, in the span of a scant 77 minutes, it was 2025 all over again. A year ago, Swiatek sent Muchova packing -- dropping only two games -- in another fourth-round match.

This one was eerily one-sided, as the No. 2-seeded Swiatek played, all things considered, her best match of the young season, winning 6-2, 6-0. Swiatek has now won five of six career matches against No. 13 Muchova.

“Yeah, for sure, I felt great,” Swiatek said in her on-court interview. “I felt like I was playing better and better. Just great.

“She’s my favorite WTA player to watch, so it’s really nice also to play against her. Basically, she might be like the only player I watch, so maybe that’s why I also feel how she plays.”

Swiatek thus ended Muchova’s win streak of eight matches, the longest active streak among players on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz and prevented her from equaling her best career result at Indian Wells.

Swiatek did not face a break point, while breaking Muchova five times.

“I always want to be proactive with my forehand, because this is what gives me points,” Swiatek explained later. “I think I just chose the right balls to go forward or to stay back and grind a bit more and play with more shape. I think just the decision-making was good today so I didn't rush, and I had just comfortable situations to do what I wanted to.

“So I think it's a combination of that, but overall, you know, I always kind of want to do a lot with my forehand.”

Notable stats

That second-set shutout was the 38th for Swiatek in a WTA 1000 event, now fourth on the all-time list after surpassing Victoria Azarenka.

Swiatek reached her 27th quarterfinal in WTA 1000 events, equaling Karolina Pliskova and Maria Sharapova for the eighth most since the format introduction in 2009.

Looking at the broader picture, Swiatek has played 43 WTA 1000 events, giving her a remarkable success rate of .628 in reaching the final eight.

After Roland Garros (40 match-wins) and the Australian Open (26), Indian Wells is now Swiatek’s third-best tournament in that respect, with 25.

How the match unfolded

This was a masterclass by Swiatek, a shades-of-2022 clinic. Everything was working. Her topspin-heavy forehand was firing in vintage form. She likes these slow hard courts, and Wednesday she was reading Muchova’s serve with something approaching telepathy, moving before the ball even struck the racquet.

Muchova did well to stay on serve through five games, but the sixth eluded her after a protracted, five-deuce battle. Swiatek bounded to net and finished with a backhand volley winner, then walloped another good return and Muchova couldn’t land a scrambling forehand.

Swiatek broke Muchova at her first opportunity in the second set and ran away, ultimately converting her second match point. Swiatek slid for a ball in that final game, then stopped for a moment to check her right ankle before playing on.

“All good,” Swiatek reported afterward. “I just hit myself with the racquet.”

Next up

Swiatek will play Elina Svitolina in the quarterfinals.

“No matter who I'm going to play, it's going to be a tough match because these are players that are basing their game at being solid, like running to everything and getting every ball back,” Swiatek said. “I think I'm going to have to have a lot of discipline to just finish the point even a couple of times sometimes.

“But, yeah, it's going to be tough anyway. It's the second week of a really great tournament, so only good players play. So, yeah, I'll watch probably a little bit, and then I'll be ready.”

wtatennis.com

Back to back great performances from Iga.

Need to see a bit more against top 10 players before I declare Iga truly back but this felt like the Iga of old which is extremely encouraging.

Don't know whether it's Indian Wells favorable conditions or the feeling she gets being there having won it before but things are definitely starting to click.

Frist time this season she didn't face a break point too. Positives all around.

Svitolina next, another challenge for sure.

But we believe.

Jazda!

5 - Iga Swiatek is the third player to reach the quarter-finals in Indian Wells in five consecutive editions of the event (2022-2026) after Lindsay Davenport (1993-1998) and Martina Hingis (1998-2002). Paradisiacal.

20 - Iga Swiatek is the third-youngest player to reach 20 WTA-1000 hard court quarter-finals since the format’s introduction in 2009, older only than Agnieszka Radwanska and Caroline Wozniacki. Playground.

38 - Since the Tier I format’s introduction in 1990, only Martina Hingis (52), Serena Williams (50) and Conchita Martinez (40) have claimed more sets 6-0 than Iga Swiatek in such events (38, surpassing Victoria Azarenka). Swiateking.

25 - Only Serena Williams (27) has claimed 25 wins in Indian Wells in fewer matches played than Iga Swiatek (28) since the tournament’s inception in 1989. Hurry.

Iga Swiatek reaches career 250th week in the top 10

2026-03-10T20:44:00.022-04:00

Iga Swiatek faced Maria Sakkari in the third round of Indian Wells today, but before she even took the court, she reached a milestone.

Today she began her 250th career week in the Top 10 of the WTA rankings, an incredible achievement given she’s still just 24 years old.

Having already captured her first Grand Slam title at Roland Garros in 2020, Swiatek broke into the Top 10 for the first time as a 19-year-old on May 17th, 2021, rising from No. 15 to No. 9 after winning her first WTA 1000 title in Rome. And other than slipping to No. 11 for two weeks in October that year, she’s been ranked in the Top 10 ever since.

IGA SWIATEK'S TOP 10 STINTS:

May 17th to October 17th, 2021 [22 weeks]
November 1st, 2021 to present [228 weeks and counting]

Incredibly, Swiatek has spent 195 of her 250 career weeks in the Top 10 inside the Top 2. She spent 125 weeks at No. 1 between 2022 and 2024, and this week will be her 70th career week at the No. 2 spot.

IGA SWIATEK'S 250 TOP 10 WEEKS BY RANKING:

No. 1: 125 weeks
No. 2: 70 weeks [including this week]

No. 3: 5 weeks
No. 4: 9 weeks
No. 5: 3 weeks
No. 6: 1 week
No. 7: 2 weeks
No. 8: 14 weeks
No. 9: 20 weeks
No. 10: 1 week

There’s no chance of her falling out of the Top 10—or even the Top 5—no matter what happens the rest of the way at Indian Wells this week.

tennis.com

Iga Swiatek gets revenge on Sakkari reaches another round of 16 at Indian Wells

2026-03-09T01:25:00.053-04:00

INDIAN WELLS -- It’s a long, long way from Warsaw, Poland -- closing in on 6,000 miles -- but Iga Swiatek can’t help but feel at home here in the desert.

The relatively slow hard courts and higher bounces suit her game and discerning eye. The warm vibe seems to be a good fit with her relatively chill personality. As a result, Swiatek has now produced a sterling record of 24-3 (.889) at the BNP Paribas Open and made at least the semifinals each of the past four years, including two titles.

She’d love to make it three-out-of-five.

On Monday evening, it was a routine 6-3, 6-2 victory over No. 32 seed Maria Sakkari, who had beaten Swiatek just last month in the Doha quarterfinals. Swiatek now holds a 5-4 head-to-head career edge.

“We played two finals here, so it’s funny [to see] us playing two years later in third round,” Swiatek said in her on-court interview. “So for sure it wasn’t an easy match. I’m really happy with the result.”

Sakkari and Swiatek came to this match riding vastly different trajectories. Swiatek was ranked No. 2 when Ashleigh Barty retired before the Miami Open in 2022 and was elevated to No. 1. For the duration of those nearly four years, Swiatek has held one of the top two positions in the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz rankings.

That same year, 2022, Sakkari rose to a career high of No. 3 on the strength of four final appearances, including Indian Wells. She would finish among the year-end Top 10 for three straight years, but in 2024 her ranking declined to No. 32 and, in 2025, No. 52.

Coming in, though, Sakkari had been efficient, winning all her service games and saving six-of-six break points. She started that way against Swiatek, converting her fourth break point in the opening game and executing a lengthy hold for a 2-0 lead.

And then Swiatek ramped up her forehand through the breezy conditions and won six of the last seven games.

The second set was more of the same, with Swiatek breaking Sakkari’s serve three times. One last backhand from Sakkari drifted long and Swiatek raised her fist as she strode to net.

Swiatek broke Sakkari five times in all and saved six of eight break points against her.

Thus, Swiatek is the first woman to advance to the Round of 16 for six consecutive years at Indian Wells since Agnieszka Radwanska and Carolina Wozniacki between 2008-2014. Since the format’s introduction in 2009, Swiatek (129-31, .806) trails only Serena Williams (148-28, .841) for winning percentage at WTA-1000 events -- minimum 10 matches.

In Swiatek’s past 34 matches against opponents ranked outside the Top 20, she had just one loss -- against Sakkari in Doha -- and now that defeat has been avenged.

Swiatek said she went to school on that loss to Sakkari in Doha.

“I think I adjusted better to the shorter balls than I did in Doha,” Swiatek said afterward. “I remember it was quite annoying there making mistakes from these balls. I also understood the wind a bit better.

“I think I served better, maybe. The return was also, like, on point. I remember in Doha mishitting and not hitting clean sometimes. Today I could really feel free to push Maria. Yeah, I just had good timing, I would say.”

https://www.wtatennis.com/news/4465336/swiatek-finds-her-range-to-halt-sakkaris-momentum-in-indian-wells

Welcome back Iga Swiatek by far the best match all season.

Kept her focus all the way through and showed great numbers on serve.

May this be the start of even better things to come.

Definitely trending in the right direction.

And getting revenge over Sakkari for Doha?.

Bonus.

Guess she really did know exactly what she did wrong in Doha, because she certainly rectified it here.

Well done Iga, hats off.

Muchova next definitely won't be easy she never is, but I hope they both bring a good level and make it really good contest.

They did practice together before the start of the tournament and Iga like all of us enjoys watching Muchova play. Who wouldn't.

Jazda!

42 - At WTA-1000 events, Iga Swiatek has claimed a 42nd career win over a WTA-1000 champion, surpassing Victoria Azarenka (41) for the outright most of any player since the format's introduction in 2009. Trounce.

Iga Swiatek back to winning ways in the desert at Indian Wells

2026-03-07T01:00:00.039-05:00

INDIAN WELLS -- It took Iga Swiatek all of five minutes -- suffering back-to-back double faults in the process -- to find her bearings at the BNP Paribas Open.

After holding serve to open her match against qualifier Kayla Day, Swiatek smashed three monstrous forehand winners through the stout desert wind in the second game and was on her way to a roundabout 6-0, 7-6 (2) second-round victory.

Swiatek is a notoriously fast starter in these WTA 1000 events; she’s now won a staggering 33 straight opening matches, and 73 straight in all WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz events.

The champion here in 2022 and 2024, Swiatek is looking for a third title in this even-numbered year.

“First set showed me exactly how to play, but I just didn't do that at the beginning of the second, so I knew that I can get back to that and turn things around,” Swiatek said afterward. “That I can and to be intense but more precise with my footwork and put pressure on my opponent.”

On Monday, Swiatek faces off against old nemesis Maria Sakkari, earlier a 7-5, 6-0 winner over wild card Lilli Tagger. The head-to-head couldn’t be closer, at 4-all.

But while Swiatek won both previous matches at Indian Wells in straight sets (2022 and 2024), it was Sakkari emerging triumphant just last month in the Doha quarterfinals, 2-6, 6-4, 7-5. After winning all 109 WTA 1000 matches in which she won the opening set, Swiatek lost for the very first time.

Sakkari has been resurgent of late, after finishing in the year-end Top 10 from 2021-23.

This was the first meeting between Swiatek and Day, the California left-hander who navigated her way through qualifying and was trying to match her best effort at Indian Wells, a third-round berth nine years ago at the age of 17.

Day began the year at No. 256 in the PIF WTA Rankings, but arrived at Indian Wells at No. 187 after winning a pair of ITF tournaments, in Martinique, France and Orlando, Florida.

While the first set was a shutout, Day came back in the second, converting her third break point in the opening game and back it up with her first hold of the match. Swiatek came perilously close to falling behind 3-0, but saved three break points at love-40.

In her next service game, Swiatek again fell into a love-40 hole -- and saved all three break opportunities for Day. But this time, Swiatek did not escape. A double fault at deuce and a down-the-line backhand pass gave Day a 4-1 lead.

It was 5-1, when Day may have begun to contemplate the gravity of what was at hand. After all, her biggest complete career win, rankings-wise, came a decade ago in New Haven qualifying when she best No. 68 Kirsten Flipkens. Here she came within two points of leveling her match against the World No. 2.

Swiatek mounted a serious rally, winning five straight games to take a 6-5 lead but Day managed to send it to a tiebreak. Swiatek was nearly as perfect as she was in the first set, sprinting out to a 5-0 lead and winning seven of nine points.

Break points, as usual, told the story. Swiatek was 5-for-5, while Day converted only two of 13. Swiatek finished with seven double faults.

“I think for sure I drifted off a little bit for some games, and then I became tight because of that,” Swiatek said. “For sure I needed to get back to my first-set game. I feel like I did that quite well. Yeah, I played with much more spin, confidence, and that's why I could win these [six] games in a row and get back to the match."

That first-set shutout, achieved in 28 minutes, was Swiatek’s 36th in a WTA 1000, behind only Martina Hingis (52), Serena Williams (50), Conchita Martinez (40) and Victoria Azarenka(37).

Swiatek owns a 23-3 (.885) record in the desert, creeping ever closer to Steffi Graf’s standard of 17-2, (.895). Only Victorias Azarenka (35) has more main-draw singles match-wins at Indian Wells.

https://www.wtatennis.com/news/4464297/swiatek-rolls-early-regroups-late-and-sets-up-indian-wells-rematch-with-sakkari

While the second set lapses continue to be a worry it's actually quite impressive how she was able to comeback from 1/5 30 all down.

Honestly it's just good to have Iga Swiatek back on court (even if she is suffering from a bit of a cold).

From 5-1 down in the 2nd set, Iga makes an impressive comeback to win in straight sets and extend her perfect record to 88-0 when winning a set 6-0 in her career.

33 - Iga Swiatek has claimed a 33rd consecutive opening match win at WTA-1000 events - it is the longest such streak of any player since the format's introduction in 2009. Start.

11 - Iga Swiatek has won 11.0% of her total career sets at WTA-1000 events by a score of 6-0 - since the Tier format's introduction in 1990, only Gabriela Sabatini (12.9%) holds a higher rate at Tier I/WTA-1000 events.

Iga Swiatek withdrawals from Dubai Open

2026-02-13T15:25:00.004-05:00

The top two-ranked WTA players have pulled out of the upcoming Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and No. 2 Iga Swiatek have both withdrawn from the upcoming WTA Masters 1000 event.

Reem Abulleil was the first to report this news. The decision surprised tennis fans and media alike as everyone expected both players to compete. Below is each player's statement and what it means for their schedules going forward.

Swiatek's statement read, "I am sorry to announce that I will not be playing Dubai this year due to a change of schedule. I hope I will come back next year to experience the great tournament. See you guys in Indian Wells."

Sabalenka's statement read, "I'm really sorry I have to withdraw from Dubai. I have such a special connection with the tournament, the fans, and the city. Unfortunately, I am not feeling 100%. But I hope to be back next year and wish the tournament a great event."

Swiatek suffered a surprising quarterfinal loss to Maria Sakkari in the Qatar Open earlier this week. Meanwhile, Sabalenka has not played since her Australian Open final loss to Elena Rybakina on January 31.

As Swiatek mentioned in her statement, her next tournament will be the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells. The outdoor hard-court tournament is a Masters 1000 event on the ATP and WTA tours. The iconic event runs from March 4-15, 2026.

However, Sabalenka did not mention when she would return to action. It is possible that she returns for Indian Wells as well. Currently, Sabalenka has a singles record of 11-1 and with one title. Swiatek has a singles record of 7-3 with zero titles.

The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships run from Feb. 15-21. The hard-court outdoor tournament has a grand prize payout of $4,088,211. Last year, Mirra Andreeva won the Masters 1000 event as part of her breakout spring on the WTA Tour.

si.com

I said in my last post I'd be surprised if Iga withdrew from Dubai, well I'm definitely surprised but pleasantly so.

She's actually sticking to her earlier statements at the start of the year about not playing all the WTA 1000s glad to see her prioritizing herself instead of chasing points.

Point chasing makes no sense as it doesn't allow any player to work on their game in order to improve as I mentioned in my last post it's incredibly hard to do while constantly on tour aka the hamster wheel.

Players don't get to rest properly either with the current crazy packed schedule.

So good for Iga for finally realizing that. It'll be better for the longevity of her career.

I hope she and Sabalenka do this more often, maybe it'll force the establishment to care about their players well being and they'll start prioritizing that instead of money and an overblown calendar.

If you want your top players to play make a better schedule otherwise you'll always have a depleted field.

No star players, no money simple as that.

Saba has never really liked or had success in the Middle East so her withdrawal is less of a surprise, but this double withdrawal might make the establishment think just a little more.

Might be really good for Iga mentally as well.

Hasn't been home since Christmas so I'm sure it'll feel nice to decompress at home and actually have some time to properly train and work on things before the Sunshine Double Swing.

Especially given both are 2 weeks long now.

Rest up, recharge and see you in the desert Iga.

Jazda!

Iga Swiatek ends Doha campaign in the quarters with loss to Sakkari

2026-02-12T00:37:00.144-05:00

After an opening set in which Maria Sakkari absorbed the full brunt of Iga Swiatek’s dominance, it looked as if her own strong run in Doha was about to end.

Instead, the former World No. 3 flipped the match on its head. She was the better player in the second and third sets, rallying to post a stunning 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 victory over the current World No. 2 in just about two and a half and hours. The win sends Sakkari into the Doha semifinals for the third time in her career and the first time in three years.

It also marked her first win over Swiatek in five years, snapping a four-match losing streak in their WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz head-to-head. With Thursday’s result, the series is now level at 4-4.

“I’m speechless because it’s been a while since I had a big win like today,” Sakkari said in her on-court interview. “When you drop in the rankings and you’re not playing good tennis, you start doubting yourself. And you’re thinking that you’re never going to beat those players again.

“So it’s a huge process that you have to go through in your head, that you know you can do it. Last year in the second round here against (Swiatek), I was not confident. I was not believing in myself. And this year, it’s different. I feel quite a lot better.”

It’s her first win over a Top 5 player since she defeated Coco Gauff in Miami 2024. More importantly, it extends a week in which Sakkari has seemingly rediscovered the level that once carried her into and kept her inside the Top 10 for the better part of three years.

She opened the tournament with three consecutive straight-set victories over Zeynep Sonmez, No. 6 seed Jasmine Paolini and Varvara Gracheva en route to the quarterfinals before toppling Swiatek. In doing so, she dethroned the Doha queen, handing Swiatek just her third loss in 21 matches at the event in a thrilling bit of theater that unfolded over three acts.

Act 1: Same old Iga

As is often the case when Swiatek steps on court, she entered as a heavy favorite. She had beaten Sakkari four straight time -- all in straight sets -- and was coming off a Round of 16 win in which she shook off a slow start against Daria Kasatkina before dominating the final two sets, dropping just two games between them.

She continued that momentum into Thursday’s opening set. After breaking for a 3-2 lead with a forehand winner, she reeled off four straight games to take the set in just 33 minutes. It was the result of quintessential Swiatek efficiency: she won 13 of 14 first-serve points, claimed nearly half the points on return and converted both break points she earned.

Act 2: Sakkari strikes back

But Sakkari refused to fold. She surged ahead 3-0 and then 4-1 in the second set, leaning heavily on her backhand -- a weapon that would serve her well again later.

Swiatek responded by winning three straight games, punctuated by a hold to love to level at 4-all. She then earned two break points that, if converted, would’ve allowed her to serve for the match, but Sakkari saved both. She cemented the hold with a forehand winner followed by an on-target body serve on game point.

Sakkari then broke Swiatek with ease in the next game to take the second set and force a decider, marking the first time the pair had ever gone the distance in eight meetings

Act 3: Return of Sakkari

The final set delivered the evening’s peak drama. After Swiatek recovered from 0-30 to hold for 1-1, Sakkari struck first two games later, breaking for a 3-1 lead. It sparked a run of three straight breaks before Sakkari became the first to consolidate, racing ahead 5-2 to move within a game of victory.

She opened the game with a forehand winner, but Swiatek again applied pressure, earning two break points. Sakkari saved the second with a brilliant backhand pass, her first point won on second serve in the decider after starting 0-for- 5.

Swiatek mounted one last push, mirroring the one she made in the second set, and won three straight games. She held for 5-3, then broke Sakkari as she was serving for the match in a game that included a tense video review of a possible double bounce. The call eventually went Sakkari’s way, but Swiatek secured the break a few points later anyway. She then saved a match point with her best serve of the day -- an ace out wide --and held once more to level at 5-5.

But as she had shown all week, Sakkari was undeterred. She halted Swiatek's run with a hold to love for 6-5, then converted her third match point when Swiatek missed a brutal volley at the net, sealing one of the biggest wins of her career.

With the victory, Sakkari became the first player to defeat Swiatek in a WTA 1000 match after losing the opening set, dropping Swiatek’s record in such matches to 109-1. She also reached her 11th career WTA 100 semifinal, and her first since she reached the final at Indian Wells in 2024. It’s her first tour-level semifinal of any kind since Charleston 2024.

She’ll face Karolina Muchova, who defeated Anna Kalinskaya 6-3, 6-4 Thursday, for a spot in her first final in two years -- the last coming at Indian Wells. Sakkari is 0-4 against Muchova at the WTA level, though she does own a win over the Czech from an ITF event in Sharm El Sheikh in 2016.

"I'm really happy I was able to turn that second set," Muchova said to WTA Media. "I got that break back and was able to finish in two because it's very late and tomorrow's another match.

"I watched (Sakkari's) match today against Iga, and they both played incredible. It's going to be a tough one but very happy to be in the semis".

wtatennis.com

Seems like the 2nd set concentration issues continue to be a concern for Iga. Part of that might be that she has lost a lot of her locker room aura over the past couple of years (especially after losing at Roland Garros last year and not winning a title on the clay).

She got it back at Wimbledon a little, but not quite on the hard courts.

So because her aura eroded somewhat all players have more belief that if they hang around and fight even after losing the first set they can beat Iga.

Hopefully Iga can find that mental toughness and concentration back which will in turn help get her front runner confidence back so she can close matches in straights.

I'm staying positive that she'll rediscover it again before this hard court swing is through, I'll only slightly panic if she doesn't find it on the clay in April.

Despite this loss it was nice to see her being brave and using variety with slices, dropshots and coming to the net. It's the kind of variety she had pre-Wiktorowski before she was even a top ten household name.

So really encouraging in that respect, you can see she's putting in the work it just hasn't quite clicked yet.

Contrary to what internet couch experts think it's going to take time, whether it's the serve (which is everyone's chief complaint) or anything else in her game.

Of course it's extremely hard to find time to work on improving anything while on tour so I'm still very much curious to see which tournaments Iga decides to skip.

Something tells me it won't be Dubai next week, simply because Rybakina is so close to Iga in ranking points that she might want to at least give herself a chance to defend them (I believe she reached the quarters last year).

Hell Rybakina almost became #2 today but but a defeat to young Canadian Vicky Mboko helped to delay that for the moment.

As I said during Aussie Open my best bet would be on Iga skipping Miami or possibly Indian Wells (though she has semi final points to defend). Miami would give her more time to prepare for the clay so it'd make more sense (though she's got quarterfinal points to defend as well).

Tough choice indeed, but I really hope she makes one here. It would really benefit her in the long run this year I think.

Believe in the process Iga, see you in the next tournament (where ever that will be).

Jazda!

Iga Swiatek battles past Kasatkina to make another Doha Quarterfinal

2026-02-11T00:23:00.041-05:00

Top seed Iga Swiatek of Poland advanced to the quarterfinals of the Qatar TotalEnergies Open with a three-set win over Australia's Daria Kasatkina on Wednesday in Doha.

Swiatek had not lost more than three games in a set against Kasatkina in their previous six meetings on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz and looked set to continue that streak as she built a 5-3 lead in the opening set. But Kasatkina, a former world No. 8, rallied to win the next four games and take the set 7-5.

The Pole responded by winning the next two sets for the loss of just two games to complete a 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 victory in 2 hours, 17 minutes. She improves to 7-1 lifetime against Kasatkina.

Swiatek converted eight of 18 break points (44.4%), while the Australian converted four of 12 (33.3%). Kasatkina also struggled on her second serve, winning 24.1% of second-serve points (7 of 29).

"It wasn't an easy match," she said to press. "Even in second and third set I had to do a lot to win rallies against Daria. I think I gave her more chances. She used the slower surface here, and she was going for it more, compared to last matches.

"I felt like I could do sometimes more in the first set. Yeah, didn't really adjust well to the colder conditions and the wind. For sure it's a lesson for next days."

Swiatek, who won the title in Doha three consecutive years from 2022-24, is through to the quarterfinals here for the fifth time in her career. Only Petra Kvitova, Caroline Wozniacki and Agnieszka Radwanska have reached the quarterfinals in Doha more often, with six each.

Swiatek will next face former world No. 3 Maria Sakkari, who beat France’s Varvara Gracheva 7-5, 6-0 to reach the last eight.

Sakkari has now won three consecutive WTA main-draw matches for the first time since reaching the round of 16 in Madrid last year and for the first time on hard court since reaching the Indian Wells final two years ago.

Sakkari won the first three meetings between the pair, all in straight sets in 2021. Swiatek has since won their next four meetings, also all in straight sets, including a 6-3, 6-2 win in the second round here last year.

“Iga is very solid but at the same time, she's very aggressive,” Sakkari said after her win vs. Gracheva. “She moves the ball really well. She moves very good on the court. She doesn't give you a lot of errors. So it's going to be a huge challenge for me. When we played last year here, it was an easy score but it wasn't an easy match, I have to say.”

Likewise, Swiatek is also prepared, heading into the match with a with four straight wins against Sakkari.

"Overall I think my level improved in 2022 so I could do a bit more, had more variety, and could push a little bit more," Swiatek said. "But against Maria, it's always tough. It's always like every game matters, every point matters."

wtatennis.com

1 - Iga Swiatek now has reached the quarterfinals in 61.9% (26/42) of the WTA-1000 events she has appeared in, surpassing Serena Williams (61.2%, 30/49) for the best since the format introduction in 2009. Stunning.

5 - Iga Swiatek is only the second player to reach the quarterfinals of the Qatar Open in five consecutive years after Agnieszka Radwanska between 2012-16. Victory.

Iga Swiatek opens Doha campaign with confident win

2026-02-10T00:05:00.045-05:00

Top-seeded Iga Swiatek scored a comfortable straight-sets win over Indonesian wild card Janice Tjen to reach the third round of the Qatar TotalEnergies Open in Doha on Tuesday.

Playing her first match since a quarterfinal loss to eventual champion Elena Rybakina at the Australian Open, Swiatek dominated the opening set, dropping just eight points in a 6-0 win.

The second set was more competitive as Tjen displayed the form that has seen her rise from outside the top 400 at the start of the 2025 season to her current ranking of No. 46 on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz. After the players traded early breaks, Swiatek broke in the eighth game and held to close out a 6-0, 6-3 victory in 1 hour, 9 minutes.

23: Swiatek improved to 23 career match-wins combined in Doha and Dubai. Only former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki has more (25) since the WTA 1000 format was introduced in 2009.

31: Swiatek has won 31 consecutive WTA-level matches against players ranked outside the top 20. Her last loss to a player outside the top 20 came in Rome last May, when she fell to Danielle Collins in the round of 32.

32: Swiatek extended her streak of consecutive opening-match wins at WTA 1000 events to 32. Her last opening-match loss at a WTA 1000 came in Cincinnati in 2021 against Ons Jabeur

36: Swiatek recorded her 36th 6-0 set at WTA 1000 events, the most by any player since the format’s introduction in 2009. When asked if she ever thought about giving away a game to her opponents when it comes to such situations, Swiatek responded, "I think when I was younger, I felt that way, but later on, you just want to win it. It's sports. It doesn't make sense to stop or to play 80%. I'm there to perform my best, so I felt always that you wouldn't be respectful towards the opponent if give them something, because we're here to play our best. I always try to just focus on myself and that's it."

72: Swiatek is now 72-0 in opening matches across her last 72 WTA events played, including the United Cup and WTA Finals. Her last opening match loss at a WTA event came against Maria Sakkari at the 2021 WTA Finals in Guadalajara.

"It's always nice to start a tournament in a solid way and I'm ready for every match," Swiatek said when asked about this streak by the media in Doha. "I think that's the reason for that. I don't take anything for granted, so even first rounds or second rounds, I treat them as super important matches and as a challenge. So I'm ready for it from the beginning."

Swiatek will next face former top-10 player Daria Kasatkina in the Round of 16. The Australian scored a 6-4, 6-0 win over 16h seed Elise Mertens of Belgium earlier in the day.

Swiatek leads the head-to-head 6-1 over Kasatkina and has won their last six meetings without dropping a set. But she is not taking the match lightly.

"Honestly I try not to think about head-to-head because every match is a different story," Swiatek said. "She can come to the match feeling that she has nothing to lose. There are different ways the match can go, and I wouldn't say that focusing on the last results gives a lot. I'd rather stay ready for the challenge and not really think about the previous ones."

wtatennis.com

Iga Swiatek Doha 2026 photoshoot

2026-02-06T01:30:00.016-05:00

Iga Swiatek falls short of the Career Slam at Melbourne

2026-01-27T15:37:00.004-05:00

Well it didn't go the way we wanted even though Iga had plenty of chances in the first set with Rybakina serving below 50 percent and clearly feeling nervous.

Once she relaxed more the aces started to flow and that was pretty much it.

I will always be left wondering what would have happed had Iga kept that first game break she had and won that first set.

It might have gone 3 or Iga might have actually won the match being such a great front runner.

Sadly we'll never know and the Career Grand Slam will have to wait another year.

While online aka "couch expert" debates rage on about Iga needing to change her coach and firing her sports psychologist, I'm actually feeling encouraged with her post match press comments.

I'm also encouraged that she's sticking with playing less WTA 1000 tournaments this year.

It'll be interesting to see which ones she skips (something tells me it won't be the Middle East since she loves the conditions there).

My bet would be on Indian Wells or Miami.

At the moment her game is very clearly a work in progress, she is changing things but as she herself admits for her it's a slow process and will take time.

As she says not everyone is Carlos Alcaraz who can change his serve motion every year and have it be a success.

I think all of us Iga fans got so spoiled with Iga being dominant for so long and winning everything.

Well the game and other players have evolved Iga's game is going through a period of transition in order to adjust, but I truly believe she'll get there.

I think like Iga herself the fans will just have to be patient.

Till then we'll support and enjoy things as they are, because they will get better.

Thank you for your efforts Iga.

Stay strong, trust the process and see you in the Middle East.

Jazda!.

Honestly this entire tournament has been a total dud with so many straight set wins on both men's and women's side of the draw.

I find myself once again rooting for and counting on Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner to go through and bring some excitement on the last Sunday in the finals.

Because Sabalenka vs Rybakina just doesn't do it for me (sorry WTA).

Iga Swiatek makes it 14 Grand Slam Quarterfinals at Melbourne

2026-01-25T15:02:00.091-05:00

No. 2 seed Iga Swiatek reached her 14th career Grand Slam quarterfinal and third at the Australian Open with a 6-0, 6-3 defeat of qualifier Maddison Inglis in 73 minutes.

There are few new situations for six-time major champion Swiatek on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz at this stage of her career, but this matchup did mark one first for Swiatek. She had never previously faced an Australian opponent at the Australian Open.

Swiatek was unfazed, allowing neither No. 168-ranked Inglis nor the Rod Laver Arena crowd to get a foothold in the match. The first "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie" chants rang out as Inglis, trailing 3-0 in the first set, reached her first game point of the day. They didn't last long. Swiatek slammed that door shut by swatting away a smash and minutes later had captured the double break en route to a whitewash set.

Inglis raised her hands to the sky when she finally got on the board at the start of the second set, capturing the Swiatek serve as the former World No. 1 mishit a backhand. But with a point to lead 2-0, she sent a forehand wide, and Swiatek wasted no time in regaining her intensity in another run of four straight games.

Though Inglis battled hard, her increased level frequently provided the canvas for Swiatek to show off more of her repertoire: a superb drop shot-pass combination at 2-1, a brilliant pickup in the subsequent game and several sharp volleys.

Swiatek's one-two punch to convert her first match point set up a quarterfinal clash against No. 5 seed Elena Rybakina. Swiatek leads their head-to-head 6-5 (including 4-2 on outdoor hard courts), but Rybakina won their only previous Australian Open meeting 6-4, 6-4 in the 2023 fourth round.

Not that those numbers are on Swiatek's mind.

"I wouldn't say head-to-head matters," she said. "Because even when one of us was winning, it was always, I don't know, a tight match or she beat me easy. Doesn't matter. Doesn't make sense to overanalyze who won the last ones or how it has been looking.

"Every match is a different story. Like on every match she's been a tough opponent, and her tennis for sure is great. I need to be 100% ready and go for it and use my experience and also the knowledge from previous matches, and that's it."

Here are the key numbers from Swiatek's win:

33: The first set was the 33rd 6-0 set Swiatek has won in a Grand Slam main draw. It was her sixth at the Australian Open, following her defeats of Harriet Dart

(6-3, 6-0 in the 2022 first round), Cristina Bucsa

(6-0, 6-1 in the 2023 third round), Rebecca Sramkova

(6-0, 6-2 in the 2025 second round), Emma Raducanu

(6-1, 6-0 in the 2025 third round) and Eva Lys

(6-0, 6-1 in the 2025 fourth round).

6: Swiatek has reached her sixth consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal. At 24 years old, she is the youngest player to accomplish this since Serena Williams between Roland Garros 2002 and Wimbledon 2003. The last time Swiatek lost before the last eight of a major was at Wimbledon 2024, to Yulia Putintseva in the third round.

24: World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka has also reached six consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinals (she is on an overall streak of 13, not counting her absence from Wimbledon 2024). It's 24 years since two players both reached six major quarterfinals in a row -- the last time was between Wimbledon 2001 and the US Open 2002, when Venus Williams and Jennifer Capriati put together simultaneous streaks.

6: Swiatek's win completes the 2026 Australian Open quarterfinal lineup. It includes all Top 6 seeds in the draw -- No. 1 Sabalenka, No. 2 Swiatek, No. 3 Coco Gauff, No. 4 Amanda Anisimova, No. 5 Rybakina and No. 6 Jessica Pegula.

The last time all Top 6 seeds made the last eight of a major was at the 1998 US Open -- No. 1 Martina Hingis, No. 2 Lindsay Davenport, No. 3 Jana Novotna, No. 4 Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, No. 5 Venus Williams and No. 6 Monica Seles.

The last time this occurred at the Australian Open was in 1991 -- No. 1 Stefanie Graf, No. 2 Seles, No. 3 Mary Joe Fernandez, No. 4 Gabriela Sabatini, No. 5 Katerina Maleeva and No. 6 Sánchez Vicario.

The Top 6 ATP seeds have also all reached the quarterfinals this week -- No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz, No. 2 Jannik Sinner, No. 3 Alexander Zverev, No. 4 Novak Djokovic, No. 5 Lorenzo Musetti and No. 6 Alex De Minaur. It is the first time in the Open Era that the Top 6 WTA and ATP seeds have all made the last eight of one major.

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Well we've reached the point where the challenge ramps up to a 100. Iga vs Rybakina will be the first real test of where Iga's level is.

In the past I would have been really anxious with this match up, but Iga has really turned around the H2H in the last year and has figured out what works with Rybakina.

So I really think if she can find her first serve we could be in for a highly competitive match.

It won't be easy but certainly doesn't feel impossible the way it used to.

I'm still not happy with Iga losing concentration in 2nd sets (granted this one could have just been the 6/0 score line).

But it's going to be tough to win against the big hitters that are left if she can't keep her level all the way through.

So I hope she can find a way to lock in and remind everyone again exactly why she's a 6 time Grand Slam Champion.

Jazda Iga, keep that belief and fight.

Iga Swiatek back in week 2 of Aussie Open

2026-01-24T18:47:00.033-05:00

No. 2 seed Iga Swiatek came through a topsy-turvy three-setter against No. 31 seed Anna Kalinskaya in the Australian Open third round, advancing 6-1, 1-6, 6-1 in 1 hour and 44 minutes.

Swiatek advanced to the second week of a major for the 21st time in 28 main draws, and for the sixth time in eight Australian Open appearances. She'll next face the last home hope -- and the last qualifier -- standing, Maddison Inglis. The World No. 168, who had to save two match points in her first qualifying round against Leyre Romero Gormaz, advanced via walkover after Naomi Osakawithdrew due to a left abdominal injury.

It will be the first time that Swiatek has played a Australian player at the Australian Open. She has faced Inglis on her home turf before, though, winning 6-1, 6-2 in the 2021 Adelaide second round en route to her first hard-court title.

Swings and roundabouts: Momentum swung wildly between Swiatek and Kalinskaya throughout the contest -- and in each set, the player who seized it early on ran away with it. Swiatek was near-flawless on serve in the first set, winning 17 out of 20 points behind her delivery; by contrast, Kalinskaya dropped her opening service game from game point up with a slew of backhand errors, setting the tone for a blink-and-miss-it 24-minute set against her.

After receiving treatment on her back during a medical timeout between sets, Kalinskaya began striking the ball with greater freedom and accuracy in the second set. Having found just three winners in the opener, she fired 10 in the second set. The key game was her hold for 4-1: Swiatek had already broken back once, and held three points to do so again, but Kalinskaya saved all three with unreturned serves.

Swiatek, who had contributed several wild unforced errors in the second set, regained her intensity in the third. She did not face a game point as she leapt out to a 5-0 lead, and though Kalinskaya made her work to close it out in a four-deuce final game, Swiatek landed a forehand winner on the line to convert her second match point.

Swiatek unsurprised by Kalinskaya test: Kalinskaya represented a quietly dangerous test for Swiatek. Her flat, aggressive game style had already garnered her one win over Swiatek, in the 2024 Dubai semifinals, and she pushed Swiatek hard in a 7-6(2), 6-4 loss in last year's US Open third round. Moreover, Kalinskaya had played her part in two of the best matches of this year's Australian Open warmups, stretching Jessica Pegula and Victoria Mboko to tight three-setters in Brisbane and Adelaide respectively.

"It's not surprising for me because I know that Anna can play amazing tennis," Swiatek said of the unusual scoreline. "And on the other hand she's risking a lot, so at the same time she might start playing out. I just wanted to be there when I have a chance, when I have a slower ball, to still be proactive and put pressure on her. I didn't feel I was playing worse in the second set, I felt like she just started playing in all the balls that went out in the first."

wtatennis.com

On the one hand these one sided 2nd set performances from Iga still quite worry me (I do miss Iga being the dominant front runner after winning the first and just bulldozing the match).

But on the other hand Iga recovering so well in the 3rd is encouraging.

For much of last year she lost matches like these in a very one sided fashion. So there's some positives here for sure.

I'm actually a bit disappointed we don't get Iga vs Naomi I think it would have been a good test for Iga to pass, but I'm certainly not completely discounting her Australian opponent.

If Iga does get through to the quarters I do worry about Tuesday because it'll be played under the roof due to the expected extreme heat that day. And if she ends up having to play Rybakina there that's never ideal.

But we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

Jazda Iga, stay strong, believe and keep going.

Iga Swiatek into 3rd round at Melbourne

2026-01-22T18:33:00.001-05:00

Iga Swiatek arrived on court Thursday night in Melbourne with several streaks on the line. Chief among them: extend her perfect record against Marie Bouzkova to 3-0, ideally in straight sets once again.

That second part looked shaky when she fell behind by a break in the second set, but the No. 2 seed never truly appeared in danger of losing the match, closing out a 6-2, 6-3 win in 1 hour and 19 minutes.

“It felt great playing today,” Swiatek said in her on-court interview. “I felt more free than in my first round, so I really wanted to go for it. And for sure, the conditions also weren’t easy. I don’t know if you guys feel that, but on the court it’s super windy.

“So I needed to adjust for that, and I’m really happy with the performance for sure.”

The victory sent her into the Australian Open third round for the seventh straight year. She has now reached the third round at 24 consecutive Grand Slam events; her last second-round exit came at the 2019 US Open, where she lost to Anastasija Sevastova

With the result, Swiatek became the first WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz player in the Open Era to reach the Round of 32 at the first 24 women’s singles Grand Slam events of a single decade.

On the approach: At one point early in the second set, Swiatek was a perfect 9-for-9 winning points when approaching the net, a clear weapon for the World No. 2, who repeatedly used forward movement to take control of rallies.

She incorporated this tactic immediately, creeping toward the net before firing a backhand winner by Bouzkova to hold for 1-0. She followed the same blueprint to guide her to a 4-1 hold, affording her a lead she would only build on before claiming the first set in 38 minutes.

Fittingly, she ended the match with one final approach, this time finishing it with a forehand winner to seal the win.

Tour’s best frontrunner: That forehand was one of 31 winners Swiatek hit (compared to just three from Bouzkova), many coming after she built comfortable leads in each set. There’s a saying that fits her game well: give an inch, take a mile. Because, if an opponent offers even a sliver of space, Swiatek tends to take far more.

Exhibit A: the second set. Bouzkova broke for a 2-1 lead and consolidated for 3-1 but left the door open just a crack. Swiatek burst through, converting her third break point of the game to level at 3-3.

In all, she reeled off five straight games to finish the match, taking the lead and never looking back.

Give an inch, take a mile.

What’s next: Swiatek will face No. 31 seed Anna Kalinskaya in the third round.

She leads their head-to-head 2-1, losing in Dubai last season, but winning their two most recent meetings in Cincinnati and at the US Open in straight sets.

wtatennis.com

Iga Swiatek survives an early challange in Melbourne

2026-01-19T17:54:00.024-05:00

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Iga Swiatek advanced to the second round of the Australian Open on Sunday, defeating Yuan Yue 7-6(5), 6-3 after being pushed to a first-set tiebreak.

Swiatek had been far more comfortable in their previous meeting, dropping only three games, but Yuan raised her level this time by extending rallies and holding serve, pushing the first set to a tiebreak before Swiatek closed out the match in two hours.

Swiatek’s composure showed late in the opening set. Yuan served for the set at 5-4 and stayed level through the tiebreak, but Swiatek began to take control of the exchanges, finishing the night with 24 winners. Several landed so close to the lines that Yuan hesitated, a reflection of Swiatek’s precision under pressure.

"There were some moments where I felt great, but the start of the match wasn't that perfect," Swiatek said in press afterward. "I'm happy that I worked through this and could, yeah, finish in two sets as you said. Also during tiebreak play more aggressively and more precise."

Swiatek carried that momentum into the second set, winning the first three games. She won 72% of points on her first serve and took advantage of Yuan’s second serve, capturing 21 of 34 points (62%).

At 4-3 in the second set, Swiatek took the final two games with one more break -- she won nearly half (40-of-82) of receiving points, compared to Yuan's 36% -- and earned her 25th straight Grand Slam first-round win on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz.

Yuan, who won three qualifying matches to enter the first round, jumped out to an early lead with a break of Swiatek and a hold in the first set. She often matched Swiatek's power in their rallies, and Swiatek racked up 21 unforced errors to Yuan's 13 in the first set. Compared to their first meeting where Yuan had just one break point opportunity, she converted 3-of-7.

Though Swiatek tied the first set at 3-3, Yuan's next two games followed a similar pattern with a break and hold, setting herself up with two games to close the first set. Swiatek bounced back winning three of the next four games to force the tiebreak, which Yuan managed to win five points.

In the second set, after falling 3-0 and taking a medical timeout for a lower back issue, Yuan won three of the next four, including a 16-point, 10-minute game to cut the deficit to 4-3.

"I think she played well," Swiatek said of her opponent. "She used the opportunities that I gave her a bit. Yeah, was kind of playing pretty strong from the forehand side. She was for sure going for her shots, playing fast. Yeah, she played good."

In the first set tiebreak, Yuan and Swiatek alternated points up until Swiatek led 5-4. During the the 10th point of the tiebreak, Yuan kept traded strong shots back-and-forth, but an incidental net cord forced Swiatek to come to the net.

The World No. 2 had several backhand winners, but none more momentous than this one. Despite the net cord, Swiatek's quick adjustment allowed her to smash home a backhand winner -- she had 15 winners in the first alone -- and create a double set point opportunity. Though Yuan saved one with an ace, another Swiatek backhand winner ended the set.

wtatennis.com

This turned out to be more of a challenge then many expected, but maybe these kinds of matches will allow Iga to find her form and play her way into the 2nd week and the tournament overall.

I do love that Iga used her supreme athleticism to her advantage and extended points instead just trying to overpower and bash the ball outside the lines (which she so often does when in panic mode).

But she really kept it together and found a way though as great champions so often do.

Made me really proud.

I hope she remembers this as the challenges get harder because they definitely will.

Jazda!

Team Poland United Cup Champions at last!

2026-01-12T17:37:00.001-05:00

SYDNEY, Australia -- Poland finally broke through at the United Cup on Sunday evening, capturing its first championship after falling in the 2024 and 2025 finals with a 2-1 victory over Switzerland at Ken Rosewall Arena.

After Iga Swiatek’s loss to Belinda Bencic in the opening match of the tie, Hubert Hurkacz leveled the final before Katarzyna Kawa and Jan Zielinski clinched the title in mixed doubles. It marked the duo’s third straight deciding victory of the week and denied Switzerland in its first appearance in the United Cup final.

Kawa and Zielinski finished a perfect 5-0 in mixed doubles during the tournament, closing the championship tie with a 6-4, 6-3 win over the previously unbeaten pairing of Bencic and Jakub Paul. In the opening set, Kawa delivered a pivotal volley at the net on set point at 5-4 during a deciding point that shifted the match in Poland’s favor.

"I think it always pays off when you're brave on the important points, especially in doubles," Kawa said to reporters. "It was like instinct decision. I just went for it. Yeah, I'm really happy that we sealed this set and we were able to get this match won."

The mixed-doubles loss was Bencic’s only defeat of the tournament. She finished with a 9-1 overall record and earned the event’s most valuable player award.

Bencic went 5-0 in singles, highlighted by Top 10 victories over No. 2 Iga Swiatek
and No. 8 Jasmine Paolini, and collected 500 ranking points for her performance.

Bencic won 12 of the final 15 games against Swiatek, earning her second career victory over the World No. 2 on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz. The first set seemed the tie’s first match was going to belong to Swiatek, but the pendulum quickly shifted the momentum into the World No. 11's favor.

“It’s always a challenge playing against her and every time I play her, I look for ways to improve and make her life a bit more difficult,” said Bencic, who defeated Swiatek for the first time in over four years. “I think the difference today was I played very freely, I was really enjoying myself out on the court and I was just really going for it.”

Swiatek started strong early, holding serve in the opening game with four straight points followed by the match’s first break and another hold. With Swiatek up 3-0, Bencic did settle into the match, winning two consecutive games of her own, cutting the deficit to 3-2 after a backhand winner on the third break point. The six-time Grand Slam champion eventually closed out the set, winning three of the next four games.

The second set, however, would be a Bencic domination with to force a deciding third set. Bencic started the second set winning nine consecutive points, and in the third game, she saved two break points. The following game, she’d get the crucial break on the third chance and finished the set in 33 minutes.

“To be honest, I felt I was in the match from the very first point,” Bencic said. “I thought I was going great and I was 0-3 down. I was ‘OK, what do I have to do.’ I think I just tried to keep the level and just wait for some chances.”

After three consecutive games with service holds to begin the third, Bencic notched the turning point. With a powerful forehand to set up break point, she took advantage of the crucial point, returning Swiatek’s serve with a convincing backhand winner. Following a service hold, Bencic put herself within two games of the win, leading 4-1, and capitalized.

Swiatek fought to the last point, holding two games of serve and saving two match points with a pair of aces, but Bencic's backhand winner on the third match point sealed the win.

Under pressure with the tie on the line, Hurkacz struck 18 aces against Stan Wawrinka and saved eight of the nine break points he faced. Although Wawrinka earned a crucial break on his way to winning the second set, the three-time Grand Slam champion converted just two of 23 break-point chances across his five singles matches at the event.

Hurkacz went 4-1 in singles during the tournament, capping a successful return from a seven-month injury layoff following knee surgery.

The 28-year-old former World No. 6 also erased lingering United Cup disappointment. In the 2024 final, he held two championship points before losing to Alexander Zverev, and last year he fell to Taylor Fritz in a third-set tiebreak. This time, Hurkacz delivered the point Poland needed to set up the championship-winning mixed-doubles match.

wtatennis.com

There's a lot of speculation regarding Iga's conditioning and form happening after the 2 loses to Coco and Bencic at the United Cup.

Personally I think her form will be fine (and she's already mentioned she's fine physically other than general soreness).

The only thing that concerns me is the way she continues to revert to bashing the ball and hitting out when she's feeling stressed instead of relying on her athleticism and extending rallies the way she did at Wimbledon.

She's fine when she's the one controlling the match, but as soon as it slips she panics and doesn't look for solutions, hopefully with more matches as the season goes on that will happen less.

This will be the first time she's going into a Grand Slam with more losses than wins, so definitely a very different situation for her to be in compared to the last 4 years.

Confidence is definitely a big thing for any player before a Slam, and although I had really high hopes for Iga this Aussie Open I may have to lower my expectations a little.

A lot will no doubt depend on the draw as well.

I see two sides to Iga not playing the mixed at all this time around.

On the one hand she'll be a lot more physically rested but on the other she'll also lack practice and confidence at net that playing mixed allows.

There is something poetic about Team Poland finally winning the United Cup as a team.

For 2 years Iga carried the teams hopes on her back, practically killing herself for it (playing singles and mixed) with nothing to show for it.

And the one year she doesn't do that and faulters in singles the team is actually able to pick up the pieces and carry her to the elusive title.

Whatever happens I'm definitely ready for the first Grand Slam of the year to begin.

Jazda!.

Iga Swiatek and Team Poland avenge last year's United Cup loss to the U.S.A.

2026-01-10T23:43:00.003-05:00

SYDNEY, Australia -- The United Cup has its second finalist, and Poland will return to the final for the third consecutive year after it avenged its 2025 final defeat to the United States with a 2-1 victory in Saturday’s semifinal.

Poland, which got wins from Hubert Hurkacz in singles as well as Katarzyna Kawa and Jan Zielinski in mixed doubles, will face first-time finalist Switzerland. World No. 2 Iga Swiatek, who fell to Coco Gauff 4-6, 2-6, will have a chance to redeem herself against Belinda Bencic, while Hurkacz encounters Stan Wawrinka.

Kawa and Zielinski were the heroes, knocking off the previously unbeaten American duo of Gauff and Christian Harrison. Kawa and Zielinski won their second straight deciding mixed doubles following a win over Australia in the quarterfinals Friday.

In the loss to Poland, Gauff earned her fourth straight victory over her rival Swiatek in their 16th overall meeting on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz. That streak includes a 6-4, 6-4 win in last year’s United Cup, as well as wins at Madrid and the 2024 WTA Finals.

"I thought I did everything well, served well, returned well" Gauff said to the WTA on her match vs. Swiatek. "I thought it was a great match for me. I was hoping to get through in the mixed but overall there's a lot of positives to take from today."

The two rivals traded a few holds initially as Gauff, who served first, took a 2-1 lead before notching the match’s first strike. She broke Swiatek and backed it up with a hold, amassing to a 4-1 advantage, but the Pole swiftly found herself back in the set.

Swiatek won 12 consecutive points to win three straight games and level the set at 4-4. She had the momentum, but Gauff remained calm and composed for the remainder of the 43-minute first set. She held serve, and on the ensuing Swiatek service game, the American No. 1 needed just one set point to close it out.

That momentum carried its way into the second, where Gauff bolted out to a 5-0 lead -- Swiatek saved three match points to prevent the second set bagel to get two games back.

In the second and fourth games, Gauff needed three and four break point chances, respectively, to secure the game as each went into a long deuce. In the fourth, Swiatek even had multiple game points of her own, but the final two points saw Swiatek’s shots go long and wide, a common occurrence Saturday evening.

"I feel like Coco has improved stuff. It's quite visible. The matches we played couple years back where most of them were kind of one-sided," Swiatek said. "She's also growing in age, more experienced as well.

"She's a top player for many years now, even though she started with she was, like, 16, much earlier than most of us do. Yeah, congrats to her basically."

It wasn’t the same Swiatek that defeated Maya Joint 6-1, 6-1 a day prior, but she'll have a chance to get her 16th overall singles win at the tournament against Bencic.

As for Hurkacz, the Pole continued his dream start to his comeback with a 7-6 (1), 7-6 (2) win against Fritz.

"Obviously playing Taylor is such a big challenge and it’s a very difficult match, especially this court, it’s quite fast. He’s serving very powerfully. Also, his forehand is really big, so if you leave anything short, he’s going to come after it," Hurkacz told ATP No. 1 Club Jim Courier. "I felt like I played actually quite solid myself. I tried to be more aggressive."

Hurkacz has now beaten Alexander Zverev, Tallon Griekspoor and Fritz in Sydney, claiming all three of those victories in straight sets. Hurkacz saved the two break points he faced against Fritz, which doubled as set points at 4-5 in the opening set, to earn the lead for his country in one hour and 35 minutes.

"Coming back from such a long period the first time in my life, you never know what to expect," Hurkacz said. "I was putting so much work outside of the court so, I give myself time to get back to my level, to an even better level and maybe a little bit less expectations coming into this week helped as well.”

Fritz led Hurkacz 4-2 in their head-to-head series, including two previous wins at the United Cup. But the Pole and his booming serve proved too much for the American.

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Iga Swiatek and Team Poland defeat Team Australia to make United Cup semis

2026-01-09T23:32:00.002-05:00

SYDNEY, Australia -- Poland has advanced to the semifinals of the United Cup, defeating host nation Australia in the last quarterfinal tie 2-1. The Polish now seek to avenge their 2025 United Cup final loss to the United States, as they continue their four-year streak of semifinal appearances at the event.

After Iga Swiatek and Alex de Minaur claimed contrasting singles wins for their countries earlier in the evening, Jan Zielinski and Katarzyna Kawa

sealed Poland's victory with a 6-4, 6-0 win over John-Patrick Smith and Storm Hunter in mixed doubles.

Swiatek now has a chance to stop a three-match losing streak to Coco Gauff on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz, including a 4-6, 4-6 defeat in last year’s final. Hubert Hurkacz will meet Taylor Fritz, another repeat matchup.

"For sure it's a good match, exciting for the fans," Swiatek said on the match. "But I'll focus on my singles. Obviously we know each other's game pretty well.

"The key for me will be just to focus on myself, try to implement the stuff that I worked on during the preseason and be brave with the decisions."

Swiatek rides plenty of momentum into Saturday evening's semifinal after a 6-1, 6-1 drubbing of Australian No. 1 Maya Joint in Friday's quarterfinal. It marked the World No. 2's second career win against Joint, and she only needed 57 minutes to get the win.

"I had a clear plan of what I wanted to do. I just focused on that," Swiatek said to reporters. "Wanted to be intensive from the beginning, put pressure on Maya, and it worked.

"Every ball mattered. I didn't want to give any free points. I also kind of felt the court a bit better than the last two matches and used of the opportunities that I had."

Joint held serve to have an initial 1-0 lead, but after, the Swiatek show ensued. The six-time Grand Slam champion overwhelmingly controlled the rallies, often forcing Joint to scramble from side-to-side just to keep the rally alive.

Swiatek won six straight games to win the first set in 26 minutes and had garnered "Iga" chants from her Polish supporters early on into the match. Her set point, a cross-court forehand winner that sped past an outstretched Joint, summed up the match best.

In the second, Swiatek and Joint traded holds, the latter of which earned some encouragement from the home crowd. Similarly, Swiatek recaptured the lead with a break, and didn’t look back, en route to her 15th singles win at the competition.

In men's singles, de Minaur produced one of the grittiest opening-set performances of his career, setting up a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 win over Hurkacz.

Playing his first tournament since last year’s grass season, Hurkacz was near untouchable in his first three service games when he dropped just one point on serve. But growing increasingly frustrated by his inability to cash in on his chances in return games, his unforced error count ticked up in the closing stages of the set.

After de Minaur saved three break points to level at 4-4, the 26-year-old claimed the decisive break and then won 21 consecutive points on serve before unexpectedly dropping serve at the end of the second set. He then broke early in the third set to secure his eighth victory in 11 singles appearances at the event.

However, though the win leveled the tie, it would ultimately not be enough to advance.

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Iga Swiatek, Hubert Hurkacz and team Poland avenge United Cup loss vs Germany

2026-01-05T23:23:00.004-05:00

Iga Swiatek and Hubert Hurkacz each posted crucial singles victories Monday as Poland swept Germany in Group F play at the United Cup in Sydney.

After Hurkacz provided the ideal start by upsetting World No. 3 Alexander Zverev 6-3, 6-4 in the opening match, Swiatek rallied from a set and a break down to defeat Eva Lysin three sets and clinch the win for Poland. Katarzyna Kawa and Jan Zielinski defeated Laura Siegemund and Alexander Zverev a perfect 3-0 evening at Ken Rosewall Arena.

Lys, who had never won more than two games in any of the previous six sets she had played against Swiatek on the WTA Tour driven by Mercedes-Benz, came out aggressively and took the opening set 6-3. The German, coming off a win over Suzan Lamens in her first United Cup match, looked poised for a major upset after breaking for a 3-1 lead in the second set.

Swiatek responded by winning five straight games to take the second set 6-3, then broke again to move ahead 3-1 in the decider. Lys briefly halted the surge by breaking back to level the set at 3-3, but Swiatek steadied and secured the decisive break in the 10th game to close out a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory in just under two-and-a-half hours.

Poland improved to 1-0 in Group F with the win, while Germany dropped to 1-1.

The second-serve performance proved decisive. Swiatek won 52% of her second-serve points, compared to 39% for Lys, while the two players were nearly even on first-serve points won, with Swiatek at 54% and Lys at 53%.

The win improved Swiatek’s United Cup record to 12-2 and marked her 31st victory in her past 32 matches against players ranked outside the top 40.

Earlier in the day, Hurkacz made a statement return to action after missing nearly seven months due to a right knee injury for which he underwent arthroscopic surgery on 2 July.

Hurkacz had not played a match since June in ’s-Hertogenbosch, leading to a fall to No. 83 in the PIF ATP Rankings. But the former World No. 6 played well above his ranking inside Ken Rosewall Arena, facing just one break point in his one-hour, 23-minute victory.

"It's been a while since I've been competing. Seven months I've been going through difficult times with the team and it was very challenging," Hurkacz said.

"They were all supporting me, they were all behind me. We went through definitely a long period of time not competing and not knowing when we [would] be able to be back on court again. I was just trying to cherish and enjoy every moment here on the court today."

The two-time Nitto ATP Finals competitor held up well under pressure against Zverev, beautifully redirecting a backhand up the line to secure the critical break at 3-3 in the second set. Hurkacz faced just one break point in the match according to Infosys ATP Stats, hitting 21 aces to allow his opponent few opportunities to work his way into points.

"I was serving quite well. I was finding nice spots, so that's definitely a nice feeling to really have good rhythm on the serve," Hurkacz said. "Just so pleased with the performance and just also so much fun to see the fans again."

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Team Poland ready for another United Cup in Sydney

2026-01-02T18:48:00.004-05:00