Iga Swiatek should be alarmed by what keeps happening to her following her latest defeat.
Swiatek has stated her goal of returning to world number one this year, and she made an impressive start to the season after beating Eva Lys, Suzan Lamens and Maya Joint.
However, it has been more of a struggle for the Wimbledon champion since then, with Swiatek losing to Coco Gauff and Belinda Bencic.
Swiatek’s loss to Bencic has now confirmed that there is a real concern starting to build for the Pole ahead of the Australian Open.
Iga Swiatek is developing a real issue against top players
Despite winning the first set against Bencic, Swiatek was beaten by the Swiss, 3-6 6-0 6-3.
This is just the second time in seven meetings that she has lost to Bencic, but it continues to highlight a recent concerning trend for Swiatek.
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Swiatek has a leading head-to-head against seven of the current top 10 players in the live WTA rankings, including world number one Aryna Sabalenka, who has just won the Brisbane International.
While this looks impressive on the surface for Swiatek, she has actually lost the most recent match she has played against nine of these players, with Australian Open champion Madison Keys the only exception.
This is particularly concerning in the case of Swiatek’s head-to-head with Gauff, which she previously led 11-1.
However, after their most recent match at the United Cup, Gauff now has four consecutive wins over Swiatek, which have all been in straight sets.
| Live WTA Rankings | Overall Head-to-head with Iga Swiatek | Recent meetings with Iga Swiatek |
| 1. Aryna Sabalenka | 8-5 Swiatek | Sabalenka won last two meetings |
| 3. Coco Gauff | 11-5 Swiatek | Gauff won last four meetings |
| 4. Amanda Anisimova | 2-1 Anisimova | Anisimova won last two meetings |
| 5. Elena Rybakina | 6-5 Swiatek | Rybakina won last match |
| 6. Jessica Pegula | 6-5 Swiatek | Pegula won last two meetings |
| 7. Jasmine Paolini | 6-1 Swiatek | Paolini won last meeting |
| 8. Mirra Andreeva | 2-1 Andreeva | Andreeva won last two meetings |
| 9. Madison Keys | 6-2 Swiatek | Swiatek won last two meetings |
| 10. Belinda Bencic | 5-2 Swiatek | Bencic won last meeting |
This does not bode well for Swiatek, who will be looking to complete the Career Slam at the Australian Open and will very likely have to beat some of these players to win the title for the first time in Melbourne.
What is Iga Swiatek doing wrong in the biggest matches?
While it is clear to see that Swiatek is struggling against these top players, there are a lot of questions as to why this is now happening for the six-time Grand Slam champion who was previously so dominant in the biggest matches.
An answer to this question was suggested by former WTA players Andrea Petkovic and Laura Robson, who were on commentary for Swiatek’s defeat to Bencic.
They both agreed that Swiatek’s persistent strategy to keep playing aggressively when in high-pressure and stressful moments of matches is actually causing her more harm than good.
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This appeared to be agreed with by many tennis fans on social media, who echoed the points made by Petkovic and Robson.
One person wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter), “Iga should get Petko as a consultant… I think she would be able to explain it to Iga in the way that she trusts her and stops being that stubborn.”
Another social media user wrote, “Everything is in her head, when she’s stressed she forgets how to use her skills.”
A similar sentiment was echoed by another person, “She doesn’t realize that all these top players are now fully aware of these patterns. They know her second serve will be a kick serve to the backhand, and most are ready for it. She needs to outsmart her opponents, but her tennis sense is quite weak.”
Swiatek will be hoping that she can figure out how to beat top players once again before the Australian Open main draw gets underway on Sunday, January 18.
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