Iga Swiatek Reveals Why She Skipped Elena Rybakina Versus Aryna Sabalenka but Watched Men’s Australian Open Final

Iga Swiatek will be in action on Tuesday (February 10) in her first tournament since her semifinal exit at the Australian Open. Swiatek succumbed to a 7-5, 6-1 exit at the hands of Elena Rybakina.

In the pre-tournament press conference before her opening-round match against fellow Polish player Janice Tjen, Swiatek revealed that she did not watch Rybakina defeat Aryna Sabalenka in the final of the Melbourne Slam and win her second Major title. But the Pole enjoyed the men’s final, where Carlos Alcaraz came from a set down and denied Novak Djokovic his 25th Grand Slam title.

I only watched the men’s final live. But besides that, I really needed to rest from tennis a little bit. So I analyzed what happened during my match, but I didn’t watch because I knew exactly what happened. It was pretty clear what I needed to focus on in the next tournament.

Swiatek also congratulated the seven-time Grand Slam champion for completing the Career Grand Slam, becoming the youngest man in the Open Era to do so. She herself was bidding to complete the Career Grand Slam, having won four French Opens, one US Open, and last year’s Wimbledon.

Swiatek has yet to make the final of the Australian Open and lost twice in the semifinal stage. Alcaraz had never reached the last four before this season and lost twice in the quarterfinal stage. Before winning his career’s fifth match over Djokovic, Alcaraz knocked out last year’s runner-up, Alexander Zverev, in the longest semifinal in the history of the Australian Open.

Kim Clijsters thinks five-setters can benefit Iga Swiatek

Australian Open director Craig Tiley floated the idea of making the WTA players compete in best-of-five sets from the quarterfinal onward after witnessing Elena Rybakina’s win over Aryna Sabalenka in the final. Danielle Collins, who withdrew from the first Major of the season due to back problems, almost had a heart attack thinking about playing five-setters.

But former World No.1 Kim Clijsters liked the plan, and even thinks players would find it difficult to beat someone like Iga Swiatek in five-setters. She said on the Love All podcast:

The five-setter, when I heard him say that, I was like, I kind of like that idea! I think I would have liked it as a player. I think I would have really enjoyed the challenge and the physical challenge of it, as well as the mental challenge that comes with that.

Swiatek has also given her reaction to Tiley’s idea in the Doha press conference. She thinks that although she may have some advantage, it would be difficult to maintain the quality throughout the match.

It would definitely benefit a few players. The first one I can think of is Iga Swiatek. She is super fit and has that really high-intensity tennis built in to her game now. I think it would be really hard to win three sets against her. There are a few players who have come out against her, but I would have loved to have seen a fourth or a fifth set in the women’s final.

Kim Clijsters added

At the Doha Open, Swiatek is a three-time champion and, in fact, completed a three-peat from 2022 to 2024, defeating Anett Kontaveit, Jessica Pegula, and Elena Rybakina, respectively. But last year, her run ended in the semifinal at the hands of eventual runner-up Jelena Ostapenko.

Last year, the six-time Grand Slam champion, apart from winning her first grass-court title at SW19, clinched the Korea Open against Ekaterina Alexandrova and the Cincinnati Open against Jasmine Paolini. In the Wimbledon final, she registered a double bagel win over Amanda Anisimova.

Also read: Elena Rybakina Aims to Keep the Momentum Going in Doha After Australian Open Victory

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