Iga Swiatek has ‘no regrets’ after Billie Jean King Cup exit as she eyes ‘new goals’ in 2025
Iga Swiatek and Poland “fought until the end”, but it wasn’t to be as they lost their Billie Jean King Cup semi-final tie against Italy.
After Lucia Bronzetti beat Magda Linette in the opening rubber in Malaga, Swiatek got Poland back on level terms as she came back from a set down to see off Jasmine Paolini.
The five-time Grand Slam winner then reunited with Katarzyna Kawa for the doubles, but they were beaten 7-5, 7-5 by Paolini and Sara Errani as Italy won 2-1 to advance to the final of the Billie Jean King Cup.
Swiatek, who won her three singles rubbers during the play-offs and one of her two doubles matches with Kawa, admits there was nothing left in the tank as she had to play back-to-back matches on Monday.
“Honestly, I don’t think I have ever been so tired before, especially after this last match we played. Still, I have no regrets, I fought for every point,” the world No 2 said.
“Maybe there was a moment where I could have adjusted things a bit better, but I tactically made a mistake. Overall, I think we fought well until the end, we gave our all on the court.”
She added: “I don’t think I’ll feel any strength tomorrow when I wake up; I feel like my whole body is sore.
“I definitely played some nice matches this week, although today I just tried to survive physically, but I’m happy that I kept my concentration in the two matches today even though in the previous round my game wasn’t as perfect.
“They were very close matches; it was nice to win the singles in crucial moments, that’s when I took advantage of my chances.”
Having started the 2024 season at No 1, Swiatek finished behind Aryna Sabalenka in the WTA Rankings.
She won the most titles on the WTA Tour this year as she lifted trophies at the French Open and four WTA 1000 events.
“Now I will start 2025 with new goals, I’m looking forward to it, as I didn’t have much time to train with Wim [Fissette], so it will be good to try out new things,” Swiatek said.
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The Pole admitted that she dealt with the pressure of being No 1 better this year than in 2023.
“I gained a lot of experience; I think this season was easier for me when it came to playing as the world No 1 and bearing that burden. Last year I struggled a lot against that, but in 2024, I progressed a lot in this aspect,” she continued.
“Certainly, the season looked very different for me from Roland Garros onwards, but the first part of the year was almost perfect. In the second part, there were more ups and downs, so I will need time to analyze everything and approach each tournament step by step.”
