Iga Swiatek Reveals What She Will Do Next Following a Disappointing Semi-Final Exit at Roland Garros

Iga Swiatek will slide down to World No.7 when the WTA rankings are updated next week following her heartbreaking exit from the French Open.

Iga Swiatek Reveals What She Will Do Next Following a Disappointing Semi-Final Exit at Roland Garros

Iga Swiatek (Image via X/Jimmie48 Photography)

Iga Swiatek’s reign at the Roland Garros came to an end on Thursday (June 5) after she lost to Aryna Sabalenka in three sets in the semi-final. The Polish star had, for the past five years won the title four times, but for over a year now she has failed to win a title. She revealed after the defeat what her next move would be.

Swiatek had been a dominant force on the clay court for the past four years. In fact, she has been dubbed the clay queen, but this season her game has regressed. She exited from the Stuttgart Open in the quarter-finals and then followed it up with a shocking straight sets loss against Coco Gauff in the Madrid Open semi-final.

She finally left the top 3 of the WTA rankings after losing to Danielle Collins in the second round of the Italian Open. She was hoping to bounce back at the French Open, but that ended against Sabalenka, losing their semi-final clash 6(1)-7, 6-4, 0-6 at the Court Philippe-Chatrier. The defeat now confirms her shocking slide to World No.7 when the rankings are updated on Monday, ending her long spell in the top 5 of the women’s ranking.

That means at the Wimbledon Championship, Swiatek will be seeded seventh and will likely face Sabalenka or Coco Gauff as early as the quarter-finals, limiting her chances of winning any major title this season. It also means she will face a very tough draw in major tournaments and WTA 1000 events.

After the loss, she was asked during her press conference what she would do next following her disappointing clay season. She revealed that since her loss in Rome, she has changed her mindset about herself and that she will add new things into her game ahead of the grass-court season:

I think I already changed my mindset before this tournament. Losing early in Rome gave me some time and perspective. I wasn’t thinking about points here in this tournament. Looking at the math, I lost many points right now. But I know it doesn’t matter. Like, any of us can win these tournaments. We kind of start every tournament from the beginning. So I’m just gonna try to do my job and focus on just getting progress and learning new stuff on grass right now.

Swiatek played only at Wimbledon during the grass season last year, it is not likely that she will do the same following the French Open exit. She needs to play in at least one WTA 500 tournament, where she can get her confidence back and perhaps even win a title.

Iga Swiatek hints at playing in a warm-up tournament before the 2025 Wimbledon Championship

The last time Iga Swiatek played a grass-court warm-up tournament before the Wimbledon Championship was in June 2023. She featured in Bad Homburg and got to the semi-finals before withdrawing from the tournament. After her loss on Thursday (June 5), she revealed that she will take part in a preseason on grass:

I’m gonna have a few days off for sure. But the coaches will plan that. Hopefully we’re gonna have a decent preseason on grass. It’s always been pretty hard to have that. Especially when I wanted to be home a bit. But I don’t feel like I need to be home right now. Maybe I’ll go somewhere in Europe to practice.

Iga Swiatek loses her cool at Roland Garros
Iga Swiatek loses her cool at Roland Garros (via Motorcycle Sports)

Bad Homburg Open will start on the 22nd of June and end on the 28th, two days before the start of the Wimbledon Championship. Swiatek has struggled on grass, she has not won any title on the surface and has not gone beyond the quarter-finals at the All England Club.

Also Read: Coco Gauff Reveals Key to Dominate Aryna Sabalenka in Roland Garros Final