Iga Swiatek told she was ‘not good emotionally’ at Wimbledon by tennis icon

Ewan West 06 Jul 2026 12:00 PM

Iga Swiatek with Martina Navratilova inset

Tennis legend Martina Navratilova has assessed that Iga Swiatek was “not good emotionally” in her surprise Wimbledon defeat to Alex Eala.

Swiatek’s title defence at Wimbledon ended with a 6-7(9), 2-6 third round loss to world No 32 Eala on Centre Court on Saturday.

After the blow of losing an intense opening set lasting 84 minutes, Swiatek swiftly found herself 0-4 down in the second set as the match slipped away from her in alarming fashion.

Swiatek, a six-time Grand Slam champion, is yet to reach a final this year, and she has not won a title since her victory at the Korea Open in September.

In her post-match press conference, Swiatek candidly admitted that she does not currently care about results.

“Honestly, I don’t care anymore about the results. I’ve been so focused on them that it’s hard to continue like that,” said 25-year-old Pole.

“So I’m really trying to, like, let it go. I don’t have good results, so I’m not going to expect for myself good results because they’re just not happening. I’m not on that level yet. I need to work from the beginning and try to just get my tennis better.”

Wimbledon News

Live WTA Rankings: Points dropped by Sabalenka, Rybakina, Swiatek, Anisimova, Bencic at Wimbledon

Alex Eala’s sensational win against Iga Swiatek at Wimbledon proves she belongs with the best

Want more from Tennis365? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for tennis coverage you can trust.

Speaking on Tennis Channel, Navratilova gave her verdict on Swiatek’s loss to Eala.

“I think the recipe [for Eala] was to mix up the serves,” said the 18-time Grand Slam singles champion.

“Hit a lot of body serves into the Swiatek forehand or backhand, and she just could not figure out how to return better serves. She did not get those break points, and she defended really well.

“And Swiatek, quite frankly, was not good emotionally. She was just so up and down; she could not keep it together today.”

Jim Courier then shared his thoughts and raised concern over Swiatek’s forehand.

The four-time major winner said: “What’s going on with her forehand, though?”

“I mean, that shot is a devastating shot, typically, and granted, grass is very different than her best surface clay for that shot; it gets on you faster, it stays lower, but she missed a lot of rally balls today that were on big points.”

Navratilova replied: “Well, it seems to me in the past, when she has got nervous in the point, and she would overhit, she would still swing or mishit.

“But now, she’s decelerating, and with that grip, when you decelerate, you’re dead. So I think that’s where the errors are coming from.”