Justine Henin believes Iga Swiatek is “in a vicious circle” and has gone through a complex emotional state

Iga Swiatek has not been to any finals this season and dropped to World No.5 after her early exit from the Italian Open.

Justine Henin believes Iga Swiatek is “in a vicious circle” and has gone through a complex emotional state

Iga Swiatek and Justine Henin (via X/The Tennis Letter/sportal)

Iga Swiatek has struggled to be at her usual high standards this season. She’s without a title this year and last lifted a trophy at the 2024 Roland Garros. The Polish star is seriously under pressure to perform at her very best. Former World No.1 Justine Henin believes that the pressure is part of the vicious circle that has made her struggle on the court.

Swiatek will arrive at the French Open as the fifth seed. She slipped to World No. 5 in the WTA rankings after her poor performance at the just-concluded Italian Open. Also, she’s entering the Roland Garros amid a difficult season by the lofty standards she has set since her ascent to the top of the women’s circuit.

The five-time Grand Slam winner is yet to reach a final since June 2024. She has struggled to play her best tennis on the court, especially in the current clay season. She reached the quarter-finals of the Stuttgart Open before losing to Jelena Ostapenko, and then crashed out of the Madrid Open after defeat to Coco Gauff in the semi-finals.

She was looking forward to bouncing back at the Italian Open, where she was the defending champion. But the former World No.1 just won one match before suffering an alarming 1-6, 5-7 loss against Danielle Collins in the third round. It was her first defeat at the WTA 1000 tournament since 2020.

In a conversation, Justine Henin revealed that Swiatek’s challenging run is taking a significant emotional toll on her. She added that the expectations and pressure have forced the 23-year-old not to evolve quickly in her game.

The status she has had, the domination she has had, especially on clay. We felt at certain moments in her young career how much pressure it was sometimes difficult to bear. The fact of feeling that her game on other surfaces was not evolving as quickly as she thought or wanted weighed [on her]. Her victory at the US Open [in 2022] was not enough to free her. Something was gradually setting in. There is competition that is progressing. All of this puts pressure on her. She’s in a vicious circle. It’s not surprising to see her struggling.

Justine Henin said via TNT Sports

Swiatek has not only lost to top players this season, but she has also lost to players not ranked in the Top 50. One big example of that was against Alexandra Eala in the quarter-finals of the Miami Open. That kind of loss will give lower-ranked players the belief that they can beat her easily.

Justine Henin says Iga Swiatek will sink at the Roland Garros before starting all over again

Several legends have backed Iga Swiatek to bounce back from his challenging period. But some, like Andy Roddick, have blamed the Polish press for putting much pressure on the World No. 5 ahead of the Roland Garros. However, Justine Henin revealed during the aforementioned conversation that Swiatek will finally sink at the French Open.

Iga Swiatek (4)
Iga Swiatek (Image via X/The Tennis Letter)

But perhaps this is the moment when it needs to explode, so that things come out, so that she can analyse, understand what is happening to the great perfectionist that she is. We say to ourselves that it’s perhaps there, at Roland Garros, that she’ll finally sink before, perhaps, starting again. Justine Henin said

Swiatek is on a 21-match winning streak at Roland Garros and is the strong favorite to win the title despite her form. In fact, she’s the only player in the Top 5 who has won the clay-court Grand Slam. Also, she has beaten two of the four players ranked above her at least once at the French Open, including Coco Gauff and Jasmine Paolini. Jessica Pegula and Aryna Sabalenka have never faced her at the tournament.

Also read: Carlos Alcaraz Convinced Novak Djokovic Is ‘Capable’ of Playing 2028 Los Angeles Olympics Despite Slump in Form