“For sure I did 100% of what I could, so no regrets” – Swiatek proud of playing well consistently

World No 1 Iga Swiatek said she has no regrets after her three-set loss to second-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in the Madrid Open final. The Pole battled after losing the first set to force the match into a decider but came up short against the Belarusian, who won 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 for her third win in eight meetings over the Pole.

“I think it was really tight, and it was a matter of kind of few centimeters, and sometimes it’s in; sometimes it’s out. But I did my best to keep the intensity and still keep the control here. So maybe next year I’m going to know better if I can do even more or not, but for sure I did 100% of what I could, so no regrets,” Swiatek told the media after her loss.

The 21-year-old will head to Rome for the Italian Open, the final big tune-up event before Roland-Garros and says she is proud of her consistent results this year.

“I can answer like what I take overall (from Madrid), but I don’t think taking anything to Rome is that important, because I’m going to treat it as totally different story and different tournament. But overall, just the experience of playing here and at different times and being able to also recover from these late matches, that’s something that’s going to give me confidence that I can manage anything. And just playing well consistently, it’s something to be proud of.”

Honestly, it’s like media and you guys are kind of focusing on that, but I know why I lost these matches in two sets.

Iga Swiatek

This was Swiatek’s fourth loss of 2023 and her first in three sets. But despite several people saying she needed to fight more in matches that are not going in her favour, Swiatek refused to buy into that theory.

“Well, honestly it’s like media and you guys are kind of focusing on that, but I know why I lost these matches in two sets. I know what I can improve, and it doesn’t really matter for me if I lose two or three sets,” the Pole said. “For sure, if it’s more tight you know that you had some maybe more chances or whatever, but I’m always fighting, and sometimes, I can play worse some day and lose in two sets. My opponent can play perfect tennis. It’s not like we have influence on everything. But I’m for sure taking care of the stuff that I have influence on. If I’m able to play better, I’m going to do that on court. Every day is different, but for sure I’m happy with how I recovered after the first set today and I came back.”

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