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Swiatek battles past Keys to make semis | 00:58
The desolate scene of tennis’s Queen of Clay Iga Swiatek sobbing midway through a crushing loss in Madrid on Thursday has drawn empathetic reactions from legends and peers of the Polish champion.
Largely impregnable on red dirt in recent years, the four-time Roland Garros champion’s crisis of confidence continued when she was routed 6-1 6-1 by American Coco Gauff in a semi-final of a significant lead-in event to the clay court major later this month.
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Swiatek’s first loss to her American rival on clay continues a surreal run of outs for the formerly dominant No.1 that sees her without a title since last year’s Roland Garros success, a tournament she blitzed aside from a second round scare from Naomi Osaka.
With her once formidable forehand misfiring and her famed conviction fraying, the world No.2 dissolved into tears at a change of ends when trailing Gauff 6-1 3-0, covering her head in a towel as she struggled to contain her emotions.
Footage of the moment prompted Danish star Casper Ruud, who has rediscovered his best form in Madrid, to remind the 23-year-old that he and others in the tennis world had been inspired by her deeds and that she would bounce back from her stunning slump.
“Hey Iga Swiatek, keep your head up. Like millions of other people I love watching you play,” he posted on social media.
“(It was) not your day today, but you inspire so many and you’ll be back stronger than ever.”
While the 22-time WTA Tour title winner’s drought dates almost 12 months, it could be argued the mental strength which was such a feature of her game has diminished since Swiatek was engulfed in a doping furore that led to a brief suspension late last year.
It was accepted the former US Open positive tested positive as a result of a contaminated supplement she used to help her sleep and she was handed a penalty at the lowest end of the range for “no significant fault or negligence”.
But Swiatek, who also received support from Boris Becker on social media, was bounced from the WTA Tour Finals in the round robin stages when beaten by Gauff and has failed to rebound this season.
It is worth noting that until the shocker on Thursday against a rival who has regained her best form — and who serves as a reminder to the champion that players can rebound from dips in their game — she has been extremely competitive in most tournaments this year.
She was edged by eventual champion Madison Keys in a thrilling semi-final of the Australian Open and has reached semi-finals of high-tier events in Qatar, Indian Wells and now Madrid.
But the woman famed for handing out “bagels and bread sticks”, tennis slang for sets which are won 6-0 or 6-1, is struggling for consistency and facing beatdowns herself with losses to Jelena Ostapenko and rising stars Mirra Andreeva and Alexandra Eala.
Swiatek, who is working with renowned coach Wim Fisette, has only the upcoming Italian Open to help her get back to winning ways before she heads to Paris to defend her Roland Garros title.
“I couldn’t really get my level up. Coco played good, but, yeah, I think it’s on me that I didn’t really move well,” said Swiatek.
“With that kind of game, it was pretty bad. I think I pushed kind of with my head for more than I even should, tennis-wise. Today, for sure everything kind of collapsed.”
Given her record in Paris, it would be unwise to write off Swiatek as the leading contender, though her form is clearly a concern.
But Gauff, who broke in the third, fifth and seventh games to blow Swiatek away in the first set, is an example of player who has received criticism at times for her form, which is astonishing given the resume she owns at the age of 21.
A US Open champion two years ago and a former beaten finalist at Roland Garros, the world No.4 now has three straight wins over Swiatek and started the season when sweeping the United Cup for America in Sydney.
“Obviously she wasn’t maybe playing her best tennis, but I think I made her uncomfortable. She is very talented and can make you run and move you around the court. And I just tried to not do that today,” Gauff said.
“I think the previous times we played on clay, I don’t think I had a win against her (and) obviously on clay she’s a different player, but clay is one of my better surfaces too, and I thought if I can beat her on hard, I can beat her on clay.”
Gauff will play dual-Australian Open champion and world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka in the final after the Belarusian defeated Ukrainian Elina Svitolina 6-3 7-5.
Sabalenka is the first WTA player to reach 30 match wins this season and is through to her fourth final in five years in Madrid, having won the tournament in 2021 and 2023 before losing to Swiatek last year.
In the men’s draw, Ruud reached the semi-finals with a 6-3 7-5 triumph over former US Open champion Daniil Medvedev.
A three-time major finalist, Ruud will face Francisco Cerundolo in the final four after he edged past Jakub Mensik 3-6 7-6 (5) 6-2.
Rising English star Jack Draper, who defeated Australian Alex de Minaur in a US Open quarterfinal last September, was outstanding in his 6-0 6-4 win over Italian Matteo Arnaldi and will be ranked in the top 5 on Monday irrespective of how the weekend pans out.
He will play 2024 Wimbledon semi-finalist Lorenzo Musetti, who ousted de Minaur in the Rd of 16 in Madrid, for a spot in the final after the Italian brushed Canada’s Gabriel Diallo aside 6-4 6-3.
