Iga Swiatek kicked off her Miami Open campaign with a big win, as she looks to pick up her first title of the season.
The Polish second seed has fallen short during the latter stages of WTA tournaments in 2025, losing three semi-finals and one quarter-final.
Most recently, Swiatek lost to Mirra Andreeva at Indian Wells, having lost to the same opponent in Dubai one month earlier.
Heading to Miami, Swiatek beat Caroline Garcia in straight sets, 6-2, 7-5, to book her place in the third round.
After the match, Swiatek was asked for her thoughts on a big story that broke earlier this week in the world of tennis.
Iga Swiatek thinks making the ‘crazy’ tennis schedule shorter would keep ‘fans interested’ in the sport
During the press conference following her win over Garcia, Swiatek shared what she hopes the outcome of the lawsuit against the tennis tours will be.
“Well, for sure the season is super long,” she said.
“I’ve been speaking about it before, that playing for 11 months is pretty crazy, I think tennis fans would be interested as much or even more if the season was a bit shorter.
“It would be maybe a bit easier to follow everything.
“Yeah, I mean, 11 months is unnecessary and it’s too much.
“Yeah, I mean, that was probably always my biggest thing I was talking about.”
Swiatek beat Daria Kasatkina in her final match of the 2024 season on November 7, before returning to action at the United Cup with a win over Norway’s Malene Helgo on December 30.
An ‘off-season’ of just 53 days is particularly short, as the Pole had one of the quickest turnarounds in the WTA top ten.
| WTA rank | Name | Last match of ‘2024 season’ | First match of ‘2025 season’ | Length of ‘off-season’ |
| 1 | Aryna Sabalenka | November 8, 2024 – Lost to Coco Gauff (WTA Finals – SF) | December 31, 2024 – Beat Renata Zarazua (Brisbane International – R1) | 53 days |
| 2 | Iga Swiatek | November 7, 2024 – Beat Daria Kasatkina (WTA Finals – RR) | December 30, 2024 – Beat Malene Helgo (United Cup – Group Stage) | 53 days |
| 3 | Coco Gauff | November 9, 2024 – Beat Qinwen Zheng (WTA Finals – F) | December 29, 2024 – Beat Leylah Fernandez (United Cup – Group Stage) | 50 days |
| 4 | Jessica Pegula | November 5, 2024 – Lost to Barbora Krejcikova (WTA Finals – RR) | January 8, 2025 – Beat Maria Sakkari (Adelaide International – 1R) | 64 days |
| 5 | Madison Keys | October 7, 2024 – Lost to Beatriz Haddad Maia (Wuhan Open – 1R) | December 31, 2024 – Beat Lucia Bronzetti (ASB Classic – 1R) | 85 days |
| 6 | Mirra Andreeva | October 20, 2024 – Lost to Daria Kasatkina (Ningbo Open – F) | December 31, 2024 – Beat Anna Blinkova (Brisbane International – 1R) | 72 days |
| 7 | Jasmine Paolini | November 6, 2024 – Lost to Qinwen Zheng (WTA Finals – RR) | December 29, 2024 – Beat Belinda Bencic (United Cup – Group Stage) | 53 days |
| 8 | Elena Rybakina | November 6, 2024 – Beat Aryna Sabalenka (WTA Finals – RR) | December 27, 2024 – Beat Jessica Bouzas-Maneiro (United Cup – Group Stage) | 51 days |
| 9 | Qinwen Zheng | November 9, 2024 – Lost to Coco Gauff (WTA Finals – F) | January 12, 2025 – Beat Anca Todoni (Australian Open – 1R) | 64 days |
| 10 | Emma Navarro | October 9, 2024 – Lost to Magdalena Frech (Wuhan Open 1R) | January 1, 2025 – Lost to Kimberly Birrell (Brisbane International – 1R) | 84 days |
Seven of the top ten players in women’s tennis began their ‘2025 seasons’ in 2024, highlighting the packed schedule they contend with.
With less than two months off the circuit, injuries and fatigue unsurprisingly creep up on the WTA Tour’s top stars, as many would no doubt welcome a change to the tennis schedule.
Which WTA tournament is Iga Swiatek scheduled to play next?
Traveling back to Europe, Swiatek will next head to Germany for the Stuttgart Open on clay, which begins on April 14.
The Pole is a two-time champion at the event, securing wins over world number one Aryna Sabalenka on her way to the title in 2022, and 2023.
- 2022 Stuttgart Open F – Iga Swiatek beat Aryna Sabalenka, 6-2, 6-2
- 2023 Stuttgart Open F – Iga Swiatek beat Aryna Sabalenka, 6-3, 6-4
In 2024, Swiatek suffered her first defeat at the event in two years, losing to Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina in the semi-finals, 3-6, 6-4, 3-6.
She’ll certainly be hoping for a better showing in 2025 when she makes the trip to Germany alongside several of her biggest rivals.
2025 Stuttgart Open top eight seeds
- (1) – Aryna Sabalenka
- (2) – Iga Swiatek
- (3) – Coco Gauff
- (4) – Jessica Pegula
- (5) – Mirra Andreeva
- (6) – Jasmine Paolini
- (7) – Qinwen Zheng
- (8) – Emma Navarro
Swiatek will first focus on her Miami Open campaign, as she takes on Belgium’s Elise Mertens in the third round on Sunday, March 23.
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