Iga Swiatek points out issue that was ‘terrible’ at the last two events on the WTA Tour before Indian Wells started

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Iga Swiatek has continued her dominant run at Indian Wells, as she looks to move on from her relatively disappointing Middle Eastern swing.

Swiatek is the defending Indian Wells champion, and is bidding to become the first woman to win the WTA 1000 title three times.

There has been a big change made at the tournament this year, but Swiatek has adapted to the new courts at Indian Wells better than most.

Despite her impressive performances, Swiatek did receive criticism for something that she did in her third round match in California.

Iga Swiatek says what was ‘terrible’ about the last two events on the WTA Tour

Prior to Indian Wells, Swiatek had a disappointing Middle Eastern swing by her standards.

After Swiatek lost to Mirra Andreeva at the Dubai Tennis Championships she appeared visibly frustrated.

Following her straight sets victory over Karolina Muchova at Indian Wells, Swiatek was asked about what fueled that annoyance in her press conference.

The world number two responded by pointing out an issue with the balls, which are often a hot topic of conversation, and even compared them to potatoes.

“Well, everybody is annoyed and angry when they lose,” said Swiatek. “I was expecting a bit better results in terms of just which round I lost, you know, in Doha and Dubai.

“But honestly, these tournaments have been tougher than for past years. You can even see going on my Wikipedia how did the matches look like past years and this year, for example. So for sure it was a different story.

“I was annoyed, but who isn’t, you know? I think in tennis it’s important to just let it go and focus on the future, and I have been doing it pretty well, you know. I’m not expecting to win every tournament.

“So after Dubai, yeah, we had also a bit more time to practice, and I also accepted that sometimes with different circumstances it might be, you know, tougher for my game to be at the best, you know.

“The balls were pretty terrible in Doha, Dubai. They felt like potatoes, so I guess I just kind of refocused and practiced here so I can feel a bit better.”

Iga Swiatek’s results in Doha and Dubai in previous years vs 2025

Over the years, Swiatek has been particularly dominant in Doha having won the Qatar Open title three years in a row before 2025.

That run came to an end this year, with Jelena Ostapenko beating Swiatek to continue her dominant head-to-head against the Pole.

While in Dubai, Swiatek’s quarter-final exit was her most disappointing result since 2022, as a former runner-up at the WTA 1000 tournament.

Swiatek is now looking to put these defeats behind her, as she continues her bid for Indian Wells history.

Next up for the 23-year-old is Olympic champion Qinwen Zheng, who beat Swiatek in their most recent meeting.