Iga Swiatek makes ‘plan B’ admission after being thrashed by Coco Gauff at Madrid Open
Iga Swiatek admitted that she struggled to even find a “plan B” at the Madrid Open after a stunning loss to Coco Gauff in their semi-final showdown.
It took just 64 minutes for world No 4 Gauff to prevail 6-1, 6-1 when the two met on Court Manolo Santana, the American sealing her place in a first clay-court WTA 1000 final.
Swiatek’s defeat was the second-heaviest she has ever faced on a clay court at WTA Tour level, behind a 6-1, 6-0 loss to Simona Halep at the 2019 French Open – when she was just 18 years old.
It also continued a six-match losing streak in WTA Tour semi-finals, having not reached a final or won a title since the French Open last June.
Asked to analyse her chastening defeat in her post-match press conference, the world No 2 conceded that her performance had been “pretty bad”.
She said: “Honestly, there’s nothing like to walk through because it was all pretty much the same from the beginning to the end.
“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, I wasn’t ready to play back the shots with heaviness, and with that kind of game, it was pretty bad.”
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Swiatek was broken five times throughout the contest, winning just 41% of her first serve points and 40% of points behind her second serve.
The Pole won only two points on Gauff’s first serve, and was unable to generate a single break point throughout the match.
The five-time Grand Slam champion admitted she was unsure whether this was a one-off poor display or the continuation of a recent dip in form.
“Honestly, I don’t know now,” added Swiatek.
“For sure, I feel like I haven’t been moving well and the tennis also was like on and off for most of the tournament.
“So I wasn’t really sure what I have in my tool box, you know, but, for sure, like I didn’t even have a plan B because nothing was working today.”
Swiatek’s pathway through to the Madrid Open semi-final had been far from fluid, with the defending champion pushed to a deciding set in three of her four previous matches.
She was forced to rally from a set and a break down to beat Alex Eala in her opening match, and was then pushed to three sets by 13th seed Diana Shnaider in the fourth round.
Madison Keys handed her a bagel in the opening set of their quarter-final clash, though Swiatek fought back to claim a 0-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory.
Swiatek will need to reset quickly, with the Italian Open getting underway next week.
The world No. 2 lifted the title in Rome twelve months ago, and the tournament has historically been a happy hunting ground for her, with three titles overall to her name.
The 23-year-old will hope to finally end her 11-month wait to reach a WTA final, and get back to winning ways ahead of her quest to win a fifth title at Roland Garros.
