The years follow one another and are not the same for Iga Świątek: one year after flying over the Masters and stealing the place of world No.1 from Aryna Sabalenka, the Pole, stripped of her throne in October, completed a season on Tuesday in Malaga mixed.
“My season changed after Roland-Garros”analyzed the 2nd player in the world on the night of Monday to Tuesday, exhausted by the defeat 2-1 of the Poland in the BJK Cup semi-final against Italy.
“The first part” of the year 2024 “was almost perfect, the second was made of ups and downs”, she continued. “I’m going to need some time to process all of this.”
Everything was going so well until June. Prestigious victories on hard court at the WTA 1000 in Doha and Indian Wells, followed by coronations on her favorite clay in Madrid and Rome, before her 4th title at Roland-Garros, at just 23 years old.
Imperial, the Pole probably had no idea that the Suzanne-Lenglen Cup would be the last trophy of her season.
Swept 6-2, 6-1 in the final in Paris, the Italian Jasmine Paolini (4th) resisted much more fiercely Monday evening. If she ended up conceding a defeat in three sets in singles (3-6, 6-4, 6-4), she immediately took her revenge, dominating Iga Świątek et Katarzyna Kawa during the decisive doubles, won 7-5, 7-5 with Sara Errani.
What changed between June and November? “The surface”, joked the 28-year-old Tuscan, clearly less comfortable on the hard courts of Malaga than on the clay at Porte d'Auteuil.
“New goals”
Paolini could also have mentioned the surprising defeats of Iga Świątek in the 3rd round of Wimbledon or in the quarter-finals of the US Open, even her change of coach in October or her early elimination at the WTA Masters in Riyadh, where she was the title holder.
Iga Świątek herself admitted that she had left in Malaga “more space” to his opponent than at Roland-Garros. “I don’t think I was as consistent as in our previous matches”tried again to decipher the Pole, exhausted after playing a singles and a doubles in the space of a few hours for the second time in three days.
When it comes time to take stock of her season, the world No.2 was, however, rather optimistic.
The painful defeats of 2024? As much “experience” accumulated that the five-time Grand Slam winner wants to exploit in 2025.
“This year, it was easier for me to play as world No.1, with a target on my back. I progressed, last year I was still struggling with that,” she said in the early hours of Tuesday.
In 2025, “I'm going to start a new season with new goals”added Iga Świątek without detailing them.
“I'm really looking forward to it. I haven't had much time to train with Wim yet” Fissette, the former coach of Naomi Osaka who replaced Tomasz Wiktorowski as coach of the Pole. “It’ll be fun to try that.”
But before thinking about 2025, time to rest.
Despite a two-month break between early September and early November, “I have never been so tired in my life”, explained a Iga Świątek with half-closed eyes after the defeat against Italy.
The Warsaw native still retained enough energy to conclude 2024 with a touch of humor. When asked about the strength that his victories in Malaga against Paolini or Paula Badosa, Iga Świątek replied with a pirouette.
“I don't think I'll feel any strength when I get up tomorrow morning. I just think I'll be sore everywhere!”
