Iga Swiatek will be keen to step on court again and banish the memory of her painful defeat to Coco Gauff in Madrid.
The Pole title defence in the Spanish capital came to an abrupt and somewhat shocking end when Gauff comprehensively defeated her 6-1, 6-1.
This marked Swiatek’s first loss to Gauff on clay and third successive defeat to the American. In fact, she has not beaten the 21-year-old since the 2024 French Open.
Though Swiatek has now turned her attention toward the Italian Open title defence, there is no denying that Madrid Open loss was one of the worst of her career so far.
Photo by Alvaro Medranda/Quality Sport Images/Getty ImagesIga Swiatek explains why she played so poorly against Coco Gauff in Madrid
Many were expecting a titanic battle when Iga Swiatek faced Coco Gauff in the Madrid Open semi-finals.
But instead it was arguably their most one-sided clash so far, as Gauff wrapped up the match in just one hour and four minutes after losing just two games.
Swiatek was emotional on court as she struggled to keep the ball in court, as she fired 21 unforced errors while winning just 35% of her first serve points.
Ahead of competing in Rome, Swiatek touched on her display against Gauff in Spain once again, and explained what contributed to her performance.
“Yeah, the match with Coco for sure wasn’t good. I had trouble focusing. I wasn’t moving well. I think everything kind of built up at one moment,” the World number two said.
“That’s why the score was like that. It’s just like one day. You can’t judge everything by it. I’m continuing the work that I’ve been doing. I trust the process. We’ll see on the next one.”
Photo By Oscar J. Barroso/Europa Press via Getty ImagesCan Iga Swiatek play against Coco Gauff at the Italian Open?
Swiatek will be keen for a chance to avenge her defeat to Gauff at the Italian Open.
But the pair can only play one another in the final after being placed on opposite sides of the draw at the Foro Italico.
Swiatek has played Gauff on two previous occasions in Rome, first in 2021 when she beat the American 7-6(3), 6-3 to reach the final.
They played for a second time in the semi-finals a year ago, and Swiatek won 6-4 6-3, on the way to claiming the title.
It remains to be seen if they will face one another in Rome for a third time, but it promises to be an intriguing contest should it become a reality.