Why Iga Swiatek was beaten at Indian Wells – is her aura gone for good?
As Iga Swiatek sat with a towel over her head during a succession of changeovers, her anguish and discomfort was impossible to ignore.
She has been in this position time and again over the last year, with the aura that was once one of her biggest weapons waning during a year that has given her rivals hope that she can be vulnerable when pressure is applied.
Swiatek is still streaming past some of his rivals and the 6-0 sets that were her trademark have still been part of her story, even over a 12 month period when she has lost her way at the latter stages of big tournaments.
Her 6-0, 6-0 Wimbledon final win against Amanda Anisimova last July was an example of what can happen when the tide is flowing in Swiatek’s direction, with her overpowering game still too much for rivals when she is flowing.
What we have seen time and again around those dominant performances is matches like her Indian Wells quarter-final against Elina Svitolina, when Swiatek came back into the match when she looked to be on course for a straight sets defeat and then fell away once again in the third set.
More Tennis News
Iga Swiatek: Points and prize money earned after Indian Wells Open exit
Iga Swiatek hails ‘amazing’ next Indian Wells opponent as ‘Roger Federer of women’s tennis’
“There is no champion who is waiting for mistakes,” declared Svitolina after her 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 win.
“You really have to try to set yourself up in a good position to attack. I was feeling good and I was trying to really, you know, open up the court and try to take advantage, because Iga is such an aggressive player, and she moves really well.
“So if you don’t take the opportunity at the right time, she’s going to take it.”
The opportunities Svitolina spoke about were rarely evident for Swiatek’s opponents when they were facing the Polish player in her prime.
Iga was a dominant winning machine when she was on top of her game, with hope draining away from her opponents as she powered ahead and barely let them win a game, but that Iga has gone.
Svitolina has a belief that she could beat Swiatek now than she would have done two or three years ago and when that aura slips, it’s hard to reclaim it.
“This has been going on for a while,” tennis legend Chris Evert told Tennis365 at Roland Garros last summer.
“Slowly that just builds and builds and builds the more you lose the more you lose confidence in your game. And then the more the other players feel that they’ve got a real shot.
“So to me, the players know how to play Iga and they know she’s not invincible anymore because she’s lost some matches. So, it’s a combination of Iga losing confidence.
“I was a champion and I know how it feels when you lose that edge against the other players and she’s a nice person, she’s good person, she’s nice person and I hope that level that made her the greatest clay court or maybe one of the greatest clay court players ever.”
Want more from Tennis365? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for tennis coverage you can trust.
Swiatek will be the No 3 ranked player in the world when the list is updated on Monday and she is also the reigning Wimbledon champion.
She has seven Grand Slam titles on her record and $44,127,390 in prize money, which is a remarkable record for a player who is only 24-years-old.
The challenge for Swiatek from this point forward will be overcoming the demons that are undermining her ambitions and that may be her biggest challenge yet.
READ NEXT: Aryna Sabalenka makes ‘huge advantage’ claim – ‘I feel like I would have probably more Grand Slams’
