Iga Swiatek insisted that she didn’t want to “think too much” about her tough start to 2025 but admitted that she was happy that the clay swing was next on the calendar.
On Thursday, the former world No. 1 suffered the most stunning defeat of her season after world No. 140 Alexandra Eala outplayed her in the Miami quarterfinal and registered a 6-2 7-5 win.
For Swiatek, it was her second quarterfinal loss of the year. Also, she has three semifinal outings and she lost the United Cup final with Poland. Not winning a title through the opening three months of the year also means that the Pole’s title drought has now been extended to 10 months.
“I don’t want to think about it too much. It’s good to learn from defeats, but yes, there are other things ahead, and I’m happy we’re going to be playing on clay now. I don’t know what it will be like this year, but I’m definitely going to work hard to be ready for the first tournaments,” the four-time French Open winner said.
Swiatek hasn’t had a triumphant run since last year’s clay season
The world No. 2 absolutely dominated the clay swing last year after conquering the Madrid Open, Rome Open and the French Open. But since then, she hasn’t lifted a trophy.
As was the case in previous years, Swiatek will start her clay season at the WTA 500 tournament in Stuttgart which kicks off on April 14th. While the Pole’s lone loss on clay of 2024 came in the Stuttgart semifinal to Rybakina, it has still been a happy hunting for her since the 23-year-old won back-to-back titles at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in 2022 and 2023.
Swiatek’s confidence has been evidently shaken lately and the clay season could be exactly what the doctor ordered for the former world No. 1.
