“The calendar is not helping” – Swiatek blames tour schedule for Dubai loss to Andreeva

Iga Swiatek pinned her 2025 Dubai Open quarter-final loss on the WTA calendar, which she claimed didn’t allow her enough time to prepare for the tournament. Swiatek, seeded second, suffered a straight-set loss at the hands of teenager Mirra Andreeva (6-3, 6-3) on Thursday.

The Pole’s defeat meant no top 5 seed, including Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff, Jasmine Paolini, and Jessica Pegula, remained in contention for the WTA 1000 title.

While addressing the media later on Thursday, Swiatek suggested her colleagues struggle with constant travel and forever-changing conditions on the tour.

“I’m not surprised,” the world No 2 said. “For sure it’s a calendar thing. Like, we’re not going to be able to be consistent for many years playing week by week. But I feel like, for sure, the calendar is not helping. Again, like, we need to switch continents, we need to switch surfaces, we need to switch the balls. Yeah, it’s not easy.”

I would blame this performance on the lack of practice.”

Iga Swiatek

Before reaching Dubai, Swiatek suffered semi-final losses at the Qatar Open, as a three-time defending champion, and at the Australian Open, also helping Poland to a runner-up finish at the United Cup.

Since she didn’t make deep runs in Melbourne in 2024 (third round) and 2023 (fourth round), she felt rushed after the Happy Slam this year.

“Before, I lost in Australia early, so I had time to do some stuff,” she added. “This year I didn’t. Honestly, I’m not that direct usually, but I would blame this performance on the lack of practice before because I didn’t have time.”

This notably isn’t Swiatek’s first attack on the WTA calendar. She raised similar concerns in Cincinnati and New York last year.

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