Iga Swiatek has endured a tough year on the WTA Tour.
After Swiatek won her third successive French Open title and fourth overall in 2024, the Pole looked unstoppable.
But things have significantly changed in the 12 months since that triumph, as the 23-year-old has not lifted a trophy since.
She has also lost the World number one ranking and her Roland Garros crown, and there is plenty of work to do for Iga Swiatek to become a dominant force in tennis again.
How does Iga Swiatek feel about losing the WTA number one ranking?
Other than for several weeks in late 2023, Swiatek held the top spot in the WTA rankings from April 2022 to October 2024.
The five-time Grand Slam champion was at the summit of women’s tennis for a total of 125 weeks, with only six women in history remaining at number one for a longer period.
While Swiatek tries not to dwell on this moment in her career, she did admit how it made her feel when she was first overtaken by Aryna Sabalenka.
“It’s not like I think about it every day,” Swiatek told Polish news outlet Sport.pl. “My perspective doesn’t change in this context. Even when I was the leader, I always said that I didn’t look at the rankings. And it still is.
“However, when I came back in February after the Australian Open, I actually had a moment when I felt a lot of bitterness about how I lost that ranking. But then I focused on work.
“I think that many people got used to being higher in the ranking, and I did too for a while. But sports work a bit differently. Anyone with common sense knows that not everything is constant in sports.
“Other girls are developing too, there is constant competition. I won’t always be first. However, on a daily basis, when I work, train, play matches, I don’t think about it at all.
“I know what tools I have and what I can show on the court. The fact that I play with the number doesn’t change that.”
Iga Swiatek suffers rankings tumble after failed French Open title defence
Swiatek has not only lost the number one spot, she has tumbled much further down the rankings.
In 2024 the Pole became the first woman since Serena Williams in 2013 to win the Madrid, Rome and French Open titles in the same season.
But after Swiatek failed to win any of those titles this season, she has now fallen out of the world’s top five.
In fact, the Pole is now ranked at number eight, while Qinwen Zheng moved to a career-high position of number four and Coco Gauff equalled her career-best ranking of number two.
This means Swiatek may face a tougher draw at Wimbledon, a Grand Slam she already struggles, given she has reached the quarter-finals just once.
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