Martina Navratilova reveals what Iga Swiatek ‘needs to bring’ to WTA Finals campaign
Martina Navratilova has described Iga Swiatek’s 2025 season as an “enigma” as the tennis icon revealed how the Pole can threaten at the upcoming WTA Finals in Riyadh.
World No 2 Swiatek sits second in the WTA Race to Riyadh and has won three titles in 2025, highlighted by her run to a sixth Grand Slam singles title at Wimbledon earlier this summer.
The Pole also triumphed at the Cincinnati Open and Korea Open after her success at the All England Club in June, which had initially ended a surprise 13-month trophy drought.
Swiatek struggled at times throughout the early stages of 2025, and her 26-match winning streak at the French Open was ended by Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-final this year — with the Pole falling down to eighth in the WTA Rankings as a result.
Though the 24-year-old quickly returned to Grand Slam-winning ways later in the summer and surged back up the rankings, she approaches the WTA Finals after disappointing campaigns at both the China Open and Wuhan Open.
Swiatek was beaten by Emma Navarro in the fourth round in Beijing, losing the final set 6-0, before being thrashed by Jasmine Paolini in the Wuhan quarter-finals.
Speaking to the WTA ahead of the upcoming WTA Finals in Riyadh, tennis icon and 18-time Grand Slam champion Navratilova assessed Swiatek’s season — and advised the Pole to channel her Wimbledon approach.
“I feel like she’s a bit of an enigma this year based on the standards she set in recent seasons,” said Navratilova.
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“She didn’t win the one everyone thought she would at Roland Garros, then she turned around and won the one [Wimbledon] no one expected her to win. Maybe the pressure was off and she said: ‘I’m just going to go for it.’
“She’s been a bit up and down, but she won Wimbledon in an amazing way. She flattened out her shots and didn’t worry about missing here and there.
“That’s the kind of aggressive approach she needs to bring to Riyadh. That should give her some confidence.”
Swiatek has impressively qualified for the year-end championships for five straight seasons, having made her debut at the WTA Finals back in 2021.
The Pole triumphed when the championships were held in Cancun back in 2023, though she was eliminated in the round-robin stage in Riyadh last season despite winning two of her three group matches.
Swiatek is set to be the second seed at this year’s event, behind world No 1 Sabalenka, and could still threaten her rival’s position at the top of the WTA Rankings should results fall her way.
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