Iga Swiatek saw her bid to complete the Career Slam this year come to an end in the Australian Open quarterfinals.
Swiatek was one of the favorites for the Australian Open, which is the only Grand Slam title she is yet to win.
The six-time major winner had made an impressive start in Melbourne, with Swiatek thrashing Madison Inglis to reach the quarterfinals once again.
Swiatek was aware of the dangers Elena Rybakina possessed for her quarterfinal match, but she was still unable to beat her opponent.
After exiting the Australian Open at the quarterfinal stage, Swiatek was asked about something another rival of hers, Aryna Sabalenka, had said, but she has explained why she does not agree.
Iga Swiatek does not agree with Aryna Sabalenka’s claim
Swiatek had led the head-to-head against Rybakina, but their rivalry is now level after she was beaten, 7-5 6-1, on Rod Laver Arena.
After losing in straight sets, Swiatek headed to her press conference where she was asked about a number of topics including something Sabalenka has previously said.
Swiatek was outspoken against the current tennis schedule last year, while Sabalenka has admitted that she will not hesitate to skip WTA 1000 level tournaments to rest or work on her game.
When being questioned on these comments, Swiatek was asked what she thought about this and whether she would consider taking some time off to work on the technical side of her game.
While she revealed that skipping tournaments is a real possibility for her, Swiatek suggested that it was not possible for her to make such significant changes during the season.
“Yeah, I don’t feel it’s possible to do that, you know, in the short period of time that we have between tournaments,” said Swiatek. “So last year I had trouble with making this kind of decision, but this year I’m trying to change my approach. So I think, for sure, we’ll skip some 1000 tournaments.
“I was never in this position, so I don’t know what the result will be, but I think it’s necessary, because if you want to improve your game, unless I want to stay, like, the same and just prepare for every tournament, then I can do that as well. I’ll play well, but if I want to improve something, it will be nice to have some time. Unfortunately, calendar doesn’t give that.”
Swiatek will have an opportunity to skip WTA 1000 tournaments in the near future, as the next two events on her schedule are the Qatar Open and the Dubai Tennis Championships.
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Iga Swiatek suggests reason why she is yet to win the Australian Open
Prior to last year, Wimbledon had been the Grand Slam tournament that Swiatek had struggled with the most.
However, Swiatek won Wimbledon for the first time in 2025, and now only has the Australian Open missing from her trophy collection.
When asked about why she lost the match, Swiatek suggested that she struggles with the speed of the courts in Melbourne.
“Well, for sure I didn’t serve as well as, I don’t know, in Cincinnati, for example, against Elena,” responded Swiatek. “My serve was kind of normal, and sometimes it could have gave me a bit more.
“As I said, like in first set I think it was a difference of a couple points. She also, I thought, gave me some chances on her serve, and sometimes I used them. Sometimes it was, like, 30-All and, for example, I missed one return. You know, I wanted to be aggressive on the second serve, so sometimes, yeah, will make mistakes. But if you want to break, you need to make it in in the moment like that.
“Then in the second set I thought, I don’t know, that the pace from her got a little bit even higher, and she was more precise, and maybe I dropped the intensity at the beginning especially.
“But it’s, like, I have some stuff I want to work on. It’s never been so, like, flawless for me playing on these courts, as they are fast, you know? I guess I’ll try next time, anyway.”
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While she claims to have struggled at the Australian Open, Swiatek is still a two-time semifinalist at the tournament.
Swiatek will now have a big decision to make, as she has a couple of weeks ahead of her planned trip to the Middle East for tournaments in Doha and Dubai.
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