Iga Swiatek considering break from tennis after Madrid Open debacle?

Poland’s Iga Swiatek is reportedly considering taking an extended break after the French Open. The 23-year-old, who is regarded as one of the best players currently playing in women’s tennis in the singles category, is going through a difficult phase according to her own high standards.

This year, Swiatek has played in seven events but has not managed to play in the final of any one of them. That is interesting considering she has played in the quarterfinals of each of them and the semifinals of four. Her most recent defeat came in the semifinal of the ongoing Madrid Open, where she lost to America’s Coco Gauff in straight sets with a score of 6-1, 6-1.

During the match, Swiatek looked exhausted, and at one stage, she was seen crying while having a towel on her face. As per the latest report from the Polish media outlet Przeglad Sportowy, the reigning world number two is considering taking a break from tennis. The report stated that the five-time Grand Slam winner, who has not won any competition since lifting the French Open last year, will play in the upcoming Rome Open and then in the French Open but if the results does not go her way, she will take a long break and prepare for the US Open. The report stated that the player's team makes the decision.

If the news is true, it will mean that Swiatek might consider skipping Wimbledon this year, which will be the first major event she will skip since she started playing at the highest level in 2019. Talking after the match, the four-time French Open winner admitted that nothing had gone her way in the match against Gauff, and she had no idea why everything went wrong for her on the day when she was competing to secure a spot in the final for the first time this season.

“Honestly, there’s nothing like to walk through because it was all pretty much the same from the beginning to the end,” she said. “I couldn’t really get my level up. Coco played good, but, yeah, I think it’s on me that I didn’t really move well, I wasn’t ready to play back the shots with heaviness. With that kind of game, it was pretty bad. I think I pushed kind of with my head for more than I even should, tennis-wise. Today for sure everything kind of collapsed, both tennis-wise and I feel like I wasn’t even in the right place with my feet before the shots. I wish I would have moved better, because I think that would get me any opportunity to bounce back, because this is usually what happens.”