Swiatek rues early loss in Miami: “I thought I was going to play better here”

The Pole will now get ready for BJK Cup duty with Poland before starting her clay-court season in Stuttgart

Iga Swiatek, Miami Open 2024 – © Panoramic

March 26, 2024

Iga Swiatek admitted she was disappointed not to have performed at her best at the Miami Open, where her quest to complete the “sunshine double” of Indian Wells and Miami was ended by the hard-hitting Ekaterina Alexandrova in the fourth round on Monday.

The Pole, victorious in Indian Wells, had struggled past Linda Noskova in the previous round and found Alexandrova too hot to handle, the Russian hitting 31 winners in all, compared to just 11 for the world No 1.

Ekaterina Alexandrova was inside the baseline to return the world No. 1s first serve all night long. It worked brilliantly. Much harder to do than Alexandrova made it look but her upset will give ideas to others#swiatek #alexandrova #wta #miamiopen pic.twitter.com/Wk4PeNSW2B
— Christopher Clarey 🇺🇸 🇫🇷 🇪🇸 (@christophclarey) March 26, 2024

“Disappointed for sure because I thought I was going to play better here in Miami,” Swiatek said, quoted by the WTA website. “But she played an amazing match and for sure, she was the better player out there today.

“Her serve, I had a hard time reading it. I got a little bit tense when I couldn’t return well.”

BJK Cup qualifier and Stuttgart next up

Swiatek’s next outing will be on hard courts for the Billie Jean King Cup qualifier away to Switzerland in Biel on April 12 and 13.

She will then switch her attention to her favourite surface, clay, starting in Stuttgart on April 15, an event she has won in each of the past two years.