Iga Swiatek says losing the world number one ranking to Aryna Sabalenka was ‘freeing’, but it took her time to see it that way.
After a dominant 75 weeks as No.1, Swiatek’s surprise fourth-round exit of the 2023 US Open meant Sabalenka took top spot, bringing to an end a streak that only two women in tennis history had bettered.
The Polish player would return to the No.1 spot by the end of the year, but conceded it mentally affected her at the time.
“I’ve got to say it was freeing in 2023 but not at first,” she said on Andy Roddick’s Served podcast. “When I lost the No.1 to Aryna for a couple of weeks, I was kind of devastated, but then it was freeing when I kind of worked through it, and when I turned it around to something positive.
“Being motivated and actually convincing myself that now I’m going to be able to focus on hunting instead of being hunted.”
But Swiatek’s short stint away from the No.1 spot in 2023 pales in comparison to 2024 with Sabalenka reigning supreme since October. Meanwhile, Swiatek was dealing with a doping ban something she said made her feel like it was “not fair.”
“But this year and last year, it was a bit different, because I just had many different things to work on and to focus on,” she recalled. “It started with my case and coming back after the case, and all these mixed feelings that I had.
“Playing well in Australia, and then playing well in Doha, and I lost in semis, but I felt like I’m playing good and I felt like I deserved to be [No.1].
“Maybe it was not a lot of humility but I felt like I deserved to be No.1 and it was taken away from me. And having these kinds of feelings didn’t help me for the next month, because I just felt like the world is not fair.
“I know it’s pretty childish and I’m in the top 10 so I shouldn’t be angry about things like that. I should be kind of grateful, but it took me a while to get over it and to focus on the future instead of the past.
“I would say the reset didn’t really come after Roland Garros, it came after Rome. Switching coaches was a big deal for me because I don’t like changes. My team is super important for me, and any change, it’s kind of putting me off balance a little bit.”
Swiatek is currently third in the rankings but is looking to kick on after her Wimbledon win.
