Iga Swiatek Gets Brutally Honest on Her Roland Garros Loss Against Marta Kostyuk: “I Felt Worse and Worse”

Iga Swiatek’s bid for a fifth French Open title ended abruptly on her 25th birthday as Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk delivered a commanding 7-5, 6-1 victory in the fourth round on Court Philippe Chatrier. The loss marks Swiatek’s earliest exit at Roland Garros since 2019 and continues a troubling trend for the four-time champion, who has struggled to recapture her dominant clay-court form since her last title here in 2024.

In her press conference, Swiatek was candid about what went wrong. The Pole has not won a clay-court event for two consecutive seasons.

No, no. I feel like I care even more maybe because… no, I always cared. Sometimes you have losses that are hard to let go because you just know that it wasn’t your day. Or you know your opponent was better. I guess it depends on the reason why you lose. Today I feel like it wasn’t nice after the match because I know I can perform better. Today I couldn’t. I did everything to handle it but it was tough. Nothing I can do now except to learn from it and try to work, try to do better next time.

She went on to differentiate this loss from others earlier in the season. The third seed admitted she lost control of the match due to mounting tension, saying her body simply couldn’t execute what she wanted as the pressure built. She added:

For sure I lost control of the match. There was no way for me to come back. Because I felt worse and worse. This is not like, positive. This is different than losing to Elina in Rome or to Andreeva in Stuttgart. It’s not great. I know that I lost because I was tense. My body couldn’t really do the proper things. But it’s not the first time as well. So yeah, just need to work on it.

Iga Swiatek on her loss to Kostyuk at Roland Garros, ‘I lost control of the match. There was no way for me to come back, because I felt worse & worse… I lost today because Marta used the opportunity and I was super tense’

“Nobody likes to lose. Especially when you’re a… pic.twitter.com/6nz0HrTCMC

— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) May 31, 2026

The Polish star hit just 13 winners compared to Kostyuk’s 25 and committed 39 unforced errors. She also won only 17 of 38 first-serve points and couldn’t hold serve after leading 4-3 in the opening set.

Marta Kostyuk’s breakthrough performance

For Marta Kostyuk, this was a career-defining moment. The 15th seed entered the match on a 15-match unbeaten streak on clay after winning titles in Madrid and Rouen. She had never taken a set off Swiatek before in their previous meetings.

Kostyuk played with freedom and belief, pressuring Swiatek’s serve relentlessly after the first set. Her performance was clinical, especially in the second set, where she won the last five games.

This win sends Kostyuk into her first Roland Garros quarterfinal, where she’ll face compatriot Elina Svitolina. It also adds to the wave of upsets at the 2026 tournament, with several high seeds already falling early.

Iga Swiatek’s recent struggles on Clay

Iga Swiatek has been the queen of clay in recent years, but her dominance has faded. She hasn’t won a tournament on the surface since lifting the trophy in Paris two years ago. Her new collaboration with former Rafael Nadal coach Francisco Roig, which began in early April, was meant to help her regain that edge, but Sunday’s result suggests there’s still work ahead.

This loss comes at a pivotal time. Swiatek sits 11th in the WTA Race but remains third in the rankings. With Wimbledon on the horizon, where she’ll defend her title, the focus will quickly shift to grass. The grass-court season presents a different set of challenges, and her ability to mentally reset will be key.

Roland Garros without Swiatek deep into the second week feels unusual after her run of success here. She won four titles between 2020 and 2024, establishing herself as one of the greatest clay-court players of her generation. But tennis moves fast, and the depth in women’s tennis means no lead is safe.

For Swiatek, the immediate priority is recovery and reflection. She’ll need to address the mental and physical tension that derailed her on clay if she wants to compete at the highest level through the rest of 2026. The grass season is her next step, as she will be the defending champion at Wimbledon.

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