Iga Swiatek facing rankings peril as Wimbledon emotions highlight a crumbling aura
One of the more troubling images of the first round at Wimbledon was the sight of defending champion Iga Swiatek weeping uncontrollably after her three set win against Taylor Townsend on Centre Court.
Returning to the scene of her unexpected Wimbledon triumph last summer should have sent a rush of positive thoughts through Swiatek and winning the first set 6-1 appeared to confirm that the Iga winning machine was ready to rise again.
Yet pressure has been an enemy to Polish star over the last couple of years and when Townsend won the second set, it was evident in Swiatek’s body language that a degree of panic had kicked in.
Swiatek could have joined the ranks of champions who have crashed out on day one at Wimbledon, but she found a way to win and that’s when the world got to see what she was living through.
The Iga who rolled through opponents with relentless venom has been replaced by a more vulnerable version in recent years and she admitted as much in her post-match press conference.
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“I think the whole process of opening the court and playing as a defending champion is for sure really emotional,” admitted Swiatek.
“Last year, probably the most amazing thing in my tennis career happened here. So I felt it also today. But, you know, it was a mix of different emotions. Overall, I’m happy that I got the win, and I can have another chance to play on this court.
When she went on to admit the tension that clearly gripped her in the second a third set can be debilitating, Swiatek let the world into his mindset.
“Overall, maybe I am sometimes more tense, and it’s not easy to get rid of that,” she conceded.
“You can sometimes see on the serve, the quality goes down. But, like, I think you can see that in many players, because serve is like the most complicated motion.
“It’s easy to mess it up a little bit. But, you know, for me, the most important thing is that I served better in the third set, that I got through this.”
The Swiatek of two years ago never doubted herself as she developed an aura that ensured her opponents went on to court fearing they would be the latest player to be on the wrong end of a 6-0 set.
Swiatek was a ruthless, fearless operator who would happily inflict humiliation on her opponent without any remorse, but the self-doubt and fear of failure that has been implanted into her game due to her numerous setbacks over the last couple of years is hard to shake off.
She did well to come through a tough opening test against Townsend on Wimbledon’s Centre Court, but what happens when Karolina Pliskova presses her stress buttons in round two or if Alex Eala tests her in round three.
With 2,000 ranking points to defend after her Wimbledon win last year, the live WTA Rankings shoe Swiatek sliding down to No 6 right now.
That is a long way from the days when she was the undisputed No 1 and such is the scar tissue that has been inflicted on her in her numerous setbacks that regaining her winning mentality will not be easy.
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