Iga Swiatek has suggested that she received her “karma” after being eliminated in the group stage of the WTA Finals. The world No. 2 started the season-ending championships on a high, winning her first match in an hour and declaring that she was happy with “everything” in her game.
But she lost her next two matches from a set up for the first time in her career and has failed to make it into the semi-finals for the second year running. Afterwards, the Wimbledon champion expressed her sadness at failing to get over the line.
Swiatek collapsed against Elena Rybakina on Monday, suffering a 3-6 6-1 6-0 defeat in her second match of the tournament. The world No. 2 then faced Amanda Anisimova in the last round-robin tie, with the winner going through to the semi-finals.
Again, the Polish star blew an early lead and failed to get a single break of the Anisimova serve. The world No. 4 came through 6-7(3) 6-3 6-2, eliminating Swiatek from the competition.
It’s the second year running that Swiatek has fallen short in the group stage of the WTA Finals. However, in 2024, she was still able to win two round-robin matches and only suffered one defeat.
The six-time Major winner was disappointed with her showing in Riyadh, and questioned why her grit and determination couldn’t get her over the line. “Honestly, I did everything I could today, so no regrets,” Swiatek told AFP.
“I felt like I’m really in the zone, I had a positive mindset. Maybe some balls went short or something but tennis is not going to be perfect, so I fought and I really didn’t give up. I wasn’t enough, which makes me sad.
“I will need to find some understanding, I guess, because when you do everything and it’s still not enough I guess it means that you need to get your tennis better.”
Swiatek won the WTA Finals in 2023 and advanced to the semi-finals in 2022, and suggested that her early exit could be down to karma.
She added: “I felt good mentally, physically, and tennis-wise also. It was nice, looking at the conditions and everything; so, I don’t really get why I couldn’t go out of the group.
“Maybe I won too much in the last years and this is karma. It’s really hard for me to say. It feels weird. It’s not like I’m expecting (to win), but from my experiences, if I put so much intensity and grit and I cared that much, it usually paid off. So we’ll see if I keep working if it’s going to pay off or not.”
Swiatek was part of the Serena Williams group alongside Rybakina, Anisimova and Madison Keys. Rybakina and Anisimova reached the semi-finals, while Keys was forced to withdraw from the tournament after two matches due to illness.
Ekaterina Alexandrova took her place as the alternate and suffered a straight-set defeat to group winner Rybakina on Wednesday.
