Swiatek Reflects on Unexpected Defeat Against Navarro at China Open

Iga Swiatek addressed her departure from the China Open, clarifying that her performance on Wednesday was not due to injury but rather poor play.

Swiatek experienced a surprising loss to Emma Navarro in the round of 16, with the score being 4-6, 6-4, 6-0. Throughout the match, she accumulated 70 unforced errors.

A victory at the China Open would have significantly aided Swiatek in closing the gap with Aryna Sabalenka in the WTA rankings. However, following this defeat, she now trails the World No. 1 by 2500 points.

Following the match, Swiatek acknowledged her subpar performance and her inability to rectify her errors during the contest.

The six-time Grand Slam champion further commented that she felt anxious during the third set, struggling to manage her errors.

Swiatek stated, “I’m not injured; my performance today was simply lacking. I managed to improve in the second set, but in the third, the errors from the beginning resurfaced. I couldn’t seem to correct the shots I was missing. I was aware of my mistakes but found myself repeating them instead of resolving them.”

She further added, “Consequently, I felt more nervous, perhaps overwhelmed by emotions. Next time, I will aim to maintain composure to think more clearly and solve problems. Honestly, nothing seemed to be effective, which intensified my nervousness.”