Following her surprising Wimbledon third-round exit to Alexandra Eala, defending champion Iga Swiatek is committed to overcoming her recent inconsistent form by focusing on game improvement and trusting the process.
Key Points
- Defending champion Iga Swiatek was eliminated from Wimbledon by Filipina Alexandra Eala in a significant third-round upset.
- Swiatek attributed her loss to game shortcomings and mis-hits, distinguishing it from her French Open exit where pressure was a factor.
- The Polish tennis star acknowledged a year of inconsistent performance, including early exits at other major tournaments.
- Swiatek expressed a commitment to "trust the process" and focus on improving her overall tennis game rather than solely on immediate results.
- Alexandra Eala demonstrated courage and played aggressively in crucial moments, leading to her victory over the top seed.
Iga Swiatek said young Filipina Alexandra Eala showed courage in the big moments to abruptly end her Wimbledon reign in the third round on Saturday, with the Pole vowing to "trust the process" in her bid to overcome a patchy run of form.
The defending champion battled hard in an 84-minute opening set that slipped away in a tiebreak, before her challenge faded as Eala grew in confidence and pulled off the biggest upset at this year's tournament.
Swiatek's Analysis Of Her Wimbledon Defeat
Swiatek's French Open campaign unravelled amid tension in a fourth-round loss to Marta Kostyuk on her 25th birthday in May, but she said the shock against Eala on grass at Wimbledon was purely due to the shortcomings in her game.
"I don't think it's the same as in Paris. In Paris it was completely about me not handling the pressure well. I was firing shots," Swiatek told reporters.
"Today... I was mis-hitting half of these returns. I lost many points. Maybe if I watch, I'm going to see something else.
"I'm also happy how I came back in the tiebreaker, and also after being a break down in the first set because in Paris I'd just lose it straight.
"I was there to fight. It wasn't enough ... in the tiebreak, when it was tight, I slowed down a bit, but she was brave enough to play a bit faster. You need to be brave in Wimbledon to win these points."
Navigating A Year Of Inconsistent Form
The six-times major champion's year has been plagued by inconsistency with quarter-final exits at the Australian Open, Qatar and Indian Wells, before a second-round defeat in Miami and an up-and-down season on clay.
That concluded in a major setback at Roland Garros and her grass court preparations were also underwhelming, as she crashed early in Bad Homburg to arrive in southwest London with a cloud over her.
Trusting The Process For Future Success
Swiatek, however, said she was not affected by some of those disappointing results anymore.
"Well, you need to trust the process. I don't care anymore about the results. I've been so focused on them that it's hard to continue like that. So I'm trying to let it go," she added.
"I don't have good results, so I'm not going to expect for myself good results because they're just not happening. I'm not on that level yet.
"I need to work from the beginning and try to just get my tennis better."
