Iga Swiatek says she’s no longer bothered about claiming her ‘lost’ World No.1 position from Aryna Sabalenka

Aryna Sabalenka currently leads Iga Swiatek with 2,231 points at the top of the WTA rankings after the Indian Wells Open

Iga Swiatek says she’s no longer bothered about claiming her ‘lost’ World No.1 position from Aryna Sabalenka

Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek (Image via WTA/X)

Since Iga Swiatek lost the World No.1 spot to Aryna Sabalenka in October last year, she hasn’t regained it. The Polish star has been under pressure to surpass the Belarusian in the WTA rankings, but Sabalenka continues to widen the gap between them. Swiatek has now revealed that she doesn’t think about it again as she aims to focus on her performance on the court.

This season, the only time Swiatek came close to Sabalenka was after the Australian Open, in which the former reached the semifinals and the latter failed to defend the title. The gap was only 186 points between them. But Swiatek failed to defend the Qatar Open title which extended the gap to 806 points.

YouTube video

Failure to progress to the semifinals of the Dubai Tennis Championships saw Swiatek’s points drop further and extended the gap to 1,091. At Indian Wells, the Polish star failed to defend the title, while Sabalenka finished as runners-up. That stretched the gap to 2,231 points, which it stands currently. The hope of Swiatek closing the gap and surpassing Sabalenka now looks very small as the European clay season nears.

This has led Swiatek to change her mindset about claiming back the lost World No.1 position. The World No.1 said during her press conference at the Miami Open that she aims to focus on working on her game on the court.

Of course, it matters to me, it’s something we work for. Mathematically, it will be difficult to regain it in the short term, even if I were to win all the tournaments. It’s a topic I have come to terms with; I know there will be moments when I won’t be able to replace all those points; that’s the consequence of winning a lot in the past season during the same period. Now I just focus on my work, on whether I will play well or not. Aryna is also playing well; no one expects her to suddenly drop; I think both of us are competing at a similar level, so we deserve to fight for that position.

Iga Swiatek said via Miami Open Press

Swiatek has to focus on winning titles again on the court. The French Open champion has not won any title since July 2024. Also, she has higher stakes to play for than Sabalenka heading into the clay season.

Iga Swiatek not looking at hitting a record 25th consecutive WTA 1000 Round of 16

Iga Swiatek reached the last 16 of the WTA 1000 event for a record 25th consecutive time after beating Elise Martens in the third round of the Miami Open. The Polish star has not lost a WTA 1000-level match since the Cincinnati 2021, where she lost to Ons Jabeur in the second round. She revealed during the aforementioned press conference that she doesn’t know how to react to it.

Iga Swiatek (2)
Iga Swiatek (Image via X)

I don’t know how to react to this data, it’s difficult. I just try to focus on my next match, I never take anything for granted. Even though I am usually a seed player, I know that every opponent will always come onto the court attentive and prepared, regardless of their ranking. Now that I think about it, I don’t believe it’s that difficult, although I acknowledge that winning all those matches is not easy.

Iga Swiatek said

Swiatek will now face Elina Svitolina in the fourth round of the Miami Open. It will. be their first meeting since the 2024 Dubai Tennis Championships. However, Swiatek holds a 2-1 lead over the Ukrainian in their head-to-head record.

Iga Swiatek says lack of preparation is affecting her game

Iga Swiatek beat Elise Martens 7-6(2), 6-1 in their third-round tie. However, the score doesn’t reflect the totality of the match. The Polish star struggled winning only 43% of the points behind her second serve. She revealed after the match that her struggle was a result of a lack of preparation before the tournament.

I always try to work on many things during the preseasons, we know that throughout the year there is barely any time to train and improve certain aspects. When you do well in tournaments, reaching quarterfinals, semifinals, or final, there is hardly time to land in the next tournament and adapt to the new conditions, but this is a challenge that all players must face.

Iga Swiatek said

Swiatek has been a critic of the WTA schedule in recent months. She has attributed several of her recent losses to fatigue and not having enough time to train. She will hope it doesn’t affect her game at the Miami Open.