Iga Swiatek is in a ‘vicious circle’ and went through ‘a very complex emotional state’
Former world No 1 Justine Henin has proclaimed that Iga Swiatek is in a “vicious circle” as she expressed concern over the fact that the Pole’s 2025 struggles have continued on her favoured clay courts.
Swiatek will arrive at the 2025 French Open in the midst of a difficult season by the lofty standards she has set since her ascent to the top of the sport.
The five-time Grand Slam winner has not reached a final since securing her fourth French Open title at the 2024 edition of Roland Garros almost a year ago.
Prior to the 2025 Italian Open, Swiatek had reached the quarter-finals at every tournament she had played this year despite lacking her best form.
In Rome, though, Swiatek suffered an alarming 1-6, 5-7 third round defeat to Danielle Collins.
The 23-year-old, who had not lost a completed match at the Italian Open since 2020, will drop from second to fifth in the WTA Rankings next week.
Speaking to Eurosport France, Henin claimed Swiatek’s challenging run is taking a significant emotional toll on her.
“It wasn’t a problem until now. Now we are on the clay that she loves so much, approaching the tournament that she has won four times, if there was a time to find herself, it was now,” said the Belgian.
“Now, it will take on another level. Against Collins [in Rome], she went through a very complex emotional state. She arrived at the press conference with red eyes. You can feel that it hurts, deep down.”
The seven-time major champion also revealed she saw Swiatek’s reaction after her win against Naomi Osaka at the 2024 French Open as an early sign that the former world No 1 was experiencing difficulties.
“In her speech to the crowd after her victory against Osaka, we already felt that she was not particularly well, she was off the subject, on edge,” Henin assessed.
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“I think it had been very hard to go and get this title. She’s been going through complex things for a while. I think one of the bases is her very perfectionist side. She wants to do things in a certain way.
“The status she has had, the domination she has had, especially on clay. We felt at certain moments in her young career how much pressure it was sometimes difficult to bear.
“The fact of feeling that her game on other surfaces was not evolving as quickly as she thought or wanted weighed [on her].
“Her victory at the US Open [in 2022] was not enough to free her. Something was gradually setting in. There is competition that is progressing.
“All of this puts pressure on her. She’s in a vicious circle. It’s not surprising to see her struggling.
“But perhaps this is the moment when it needs to explode, so that things come out, so that she can analyse, understand what is happening to the great perfectionist that she is.
“We say to ourselves that it’s perhaps there, at Roland Garros, that she’ll finally sink before, perhaps, starting again.”
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