Grand Slam Finalist Indirectly Tells Iga Swiatek to Be ‘Smarter’ After Her Decision to Play Korea Open

Iga Swiatek kick-started her Korea Open title against Sorana Cirstea in the second round.

Grand Slam Finalist Indirectly Tells Iga Swiatek to Be ‘Smarter’ After Her Decision to Play Korea Open

Iga Swiatek (Image via X/WTA Insider)

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Iga Swiatek is in Seoul for the WTA 500 Korea Open, which is underway at the Olympic Park Tennis Center. She will kick-start her campaign against Sorana Cirstea on Thursday (September 18).

Several top players have prioritized rest this week as they will be in action next week for the WTA 1000 China Open. Swiatek, who has time and again criticized the hectic 11-month schedule, chose to play.

WTA rival and 2021 French Open finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, during her interview on Bolshe, questioned those players who signed up for the Korea Open despite often complaining about the calendar. She, however, did not mention Swiatek.

All the girls are complaining and groaning in the changing rooms, ‘What a [long] season’, and then I see everyone is already in Korea. They’re already starting to play. I think…you literally just complained about the season, and now you’ve already flown away. Why? Be smarter with your schedule, right? Yet everyone still plays.

Pavlyuchenkova was last seen in action at the US Open, where she played both singles and doubles. She lost to former World No.1 Victoria Azarenka in the second round in singles, while in doubles, she and Rebeka Masarova lost to the pair of Renata Zarazua and Miyu Kato.

The World No.52 is a winner of 12 singles titles, but none of them she has not won this year. In singles, she has won 14 matches this year and lost the same number of matches as well.

Swiatek, on the other hand, is chasing her third title of the season after her win at Wimbledon and the Cincinnati Open. She won at SW19 by double bageling Amanda Anisimova and later secured a straight-set win over Jasmine Paolini in Cincinnati. The Pole also played her first grass-court final at the Bad Homburg Open, losing the match to Jessica Pegula.

Iga Swiatek recalls her doping suspension ahead of the Korea Open campaign

Iga Swiatek was scheduled to make her debut at the Korea Open last year but was forced to skip it. She was serving her three-week provisional suspension after failing a doping test.

Iga Swiatek Stuttgart Open
Iga Swiatek (via X/The Tennis Letter)

I’m happy that I’m past it, and I’m happy that I could resolve it quickly. Missing the whole Asian swing wasn’t the easiest because I thought that I could fight for being No.1 at the end of the year. But, missing such important tournaments after the suspension, it was not really possible. I’m happy that I’m just going to learn from this experience. I’m happy to be here, for sure.

Iga Swiatek said during the pre-tournament press conference at the Korea Open

Last year, the six-time Grand Slam champion also missed the China Open as well as the Wuhan Open – the two mandatory WTA 1000 events. Skipping these events affected her rankings greatly, as before the end of the season, she dropped to the second position, losing the rank to Aryna Sabalenka, who was also winning on hardcourts.

Korea Open is Swiatek’s first tournament since the US Open, where she suffered a straight-set defeat to Anisimova in the quarterfinals. After Korea, Swiatek will be shifting her focus to the China Open. The 24-year-old has one China Open title to her name. She clinched it back in 2023 by defeating Liudmila Samsonova. Swiatek, however, has never played the Wuhan Open.

Swiatek has so far clinched 11 WTA 1000 titles from 13 finals. Her WTA 500 tally is five, last winning a title in this category at the 2023 Stuttgart Open by defeating Sabalenka. Swiatek has to win multiple tournaments to dethrone the four-time Grand Slam singles champion from the No.1 ranking. Winning only the WTA 500 Korea Open won’t help much.

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