Jimmy Connors Shares What He Thinks Struggling Iga Swiatek Must Do Next

Iga Swiatek failed to defend her Roland Garros title due to her three-set defeat to World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka in the final.

Jimmy Connors Shares What He Thinks Struggling Iga Swiatek Must Do Next

Jimmy Connors, Iga Swiatek (Image via Sportscasting, X/The Tennis Letter)

The tennis world expected to see Iga Swiatek end her trophy drought during the clay swing but in every tournament she played on the surface, she failed to reach the final. Swiatek, in fact, hasn’t yet progressed to a championship match since winning her fourth Roland Garros title last year by beating Jasmine Paolini.

The 24-year-old produced a strong performance in the recently concluded French Open but her campaign ended in the semifinal after a three-set defeat to eventual runner-up Aryna Sabalenka, who still trails 5-8 in the head-to-head matchups. Former ATP pro Jimmy Connors advised the Pole to start focusing on what she must do to beat her big rivals as he thinks this can help her get back to the top level. He said on his Advantage Connors podcast:

When you are struggling and have not made a final for a year you need to figure out what you need to do. What do I need to do to beat Coco [Gauff]? What do I need to do to beat Sabalenka? What do I need to do to beat [Madison] Keys? Then your mind should be working and your game should be working in a direction of what do I need to do to add to that.

Swiatek was the fifth seed in the clay-court Major. As she couldn’t defend her French Open title, she dropped to the seventh position on the rankings table with 4,618 points.

The grass court season has started and Swiatek will be aiming to win her first title on the surface. At Wimbledon, the five-time Grand Slam champion has never progressed beyond the quarterfinals. Last year, Yulia Putintseva came from a set down to knock her out of the grass-court Major in the third round.

Jimmy Connors defends Aryna Sabalenka over her Iga Swiatek and other comments after defeat to Coco Gauff

Aryna Sabalenka was censured by several former players after her French Open defeat. During the runner-up speech, Sabalenka criticized her game, saying she played “terrible tennis“.

Coco Gauff, Aryna Sabalenka (3)
Coco Gauff, Aryna Sabalenka (Image via X/Complex, Univers Tennis)

Later at the press conference, she stated that had Iga Swiatek defeated her in the semifinals, she would have beaten Coco Gauff. Amid criticism for this comment, she found a supporter in Jimmy Connors, the eight-time Grand Slam singles champion, who also finished runner-up seven times. He said on his Advantage Connors podcast:

After a tough match, whether it’s the finals or the French or Wimbledon or whatever, everyone wants to hear your thoughts right away. Maybe it would be better to give you five minutes and let the players take a breath. But they want to hear it right away, they want the scoop. And then they are critical of it.

Swiatek was chasing her fifth Roland Garros title and her fourth consecutive one in the tournament. Before this French Open, Sabalenka never progressed to the final, while Gauff had lost the 2022 French Open final to Swiatek.

The victory made Gauff the youngest American to win the French Open after Serena Williams in 2002. Before arriving in Paris, she played back-to-back finals in Madrid (lost to Sabalenka) and Rome (lost to Jasmine Paolini).

Gauff now took a 6-5 head-to-head lead over the three-time Grand Slam singles champion, who played her seventh tour-level final in Paris and was chasing her fourth title after her victories in Brisbane, Miami, and Madrid. The French Open was the 21-year-old’s first title of the season.

Before the clay swing, she failed to reach a singles final. Swiatek, except for her third-round defeat to Danielle Collins in the Italian Open, has reached every quarterfinal and multiple semifinals this season.

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