Four-time French Open champion Iga Swiatek experienced a devastating birthday surprise on Sunday, as tension overwhelmed her during a stunning fourth-round loss to Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk in Paris.
The Polish tennis star, who has dominated clay court tennis in recent years, suffered a 7-5, 6-1 defeat that marked her earliest departure from the French Open since she first competed in the tournament in 2019.
Swiatek’s 25th birthday became one to forget as her performance deteriorated significantly in the second set against the 15th-seeded Kostyuk. The six-time Grand Slam winner hasn’t claimed a clay court championship since winning the 2024 French Open.
Speaking to reporters after the match, Swiatek was candid about what led to her comprehensive defeat.
“I lost control of the match, and there was no way to come back, because I felt worse and worse. This isn’t positive, and this is different than losing to Elina Svitolina in Rome or to Mirra Andreeva in Stuttgart,” Swiatek explained.
“It’s not great. I know I lost because I was tense, and my body couldn’t do … the proper things, but it’s not the first time, as well. So yeah, I just need to work on it.”
The tennis champion reflected on different types of losses, noting that her defeat had a particular sting to it.
“Honestly, maybe the toughest loss is when you had the match in your hands, you made stupid decisions, you let it go and your opponent suddenly came back,” she said.
“It’s also bad when your tennis is terrible, and you know you were worse than the players you play with. But I feel I lost today because Marta used the opportunity and I was super tense.”
Despite the disappointing result, Swiatek acknowledged she understands what needs improvement and won’t rush the process.
“Maybe it’s not going to take one week or one month,” the champion stated. “Maybe it’s going to take even a season or something, but I need to believe that I can work through this and not be thrown off so quickly.”
With the grass court season approaching and Wimbledon beginning June 29, Swiatek will need to regroup quickly as she prepares to defend her title there.
However, she admitted she hasn’t begun thinking about the transition to grass courts yet.
“I haven’t thought about grass at all,” Swiatek said. “Yeah it was a great year last year, but also, my previous results weren’t good. They were good, but depending on how you look at it.”
“I’m going to probably take it easy and try to be patient and be humble. I don’t know how it’s going to be. I’m not a wizard.”
