Worrying pattern developing for Iga Swiatek after crushing defeat at WTA Finals

Iga Swiatek specialises in 6-0 sets, but she is normally the player handing out the punishment to her rivals.

So when the roles are reversed and Swiatek is blown away in the manner we saw against Elena Rybakina at the WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia, it is hard to believe what we are seeing.

Swiatek appeared to be on course to beat Rybakina as she powered to success in the first set, but it was the manner of her collapse that left so many question marks hovering over the world No 2.

The Wimbledon champion appeared to throw the towel in long before the 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 defeat was confirmed, as she tightened up and threw in too many unforced errors as the final two sets of the match got away from her.

It was a worrying performance and what must be more concerning for the Polish star and her team is this is now becoming a pattern of failure when the tide turns around her.

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Swiatek lost the last set of her matches against Emma Navarro at the China Open without winning a game and she was also powerless to halt the tide turning around her as Jasmine Paolini beat her 6-1, 6-2 at the Wuhan Open.

They were crushing defeats for a player who was not used to losing until this curious 2025 season that has been laced with inconsistency.

Swiatek’s high points this year have been hugely impressive, with her win at Wimbledon coming in familiar fashion as she beat Amanda Anisimova 6-0, 6-0 in an embarrassingly one-sided final.

Yet when opponents put Swiatek under pressure, she appears to crack too easily and that is a massive problem that needs to be addressed by the six-time Grand Slam champion.

Former British No 1 Laura Robson suggested Swiatek ‘the panic mode’ as the match swung away from her in alarming fashion after she clinched the first set, with her lack of answers on court leaving huge questions for what comes next.

“She did not anticipate the changes Rybakina made after the first set,” Robson told Sky Sports Tennis.

“From there, that’s where the panic mode was hit by Swiatek. She just felt like she couldn’t do anything out there. You could see she was talking to Wim Fissett (her coach) and lots of hands signals. That was not a good sign.

“Serving to Swiatek’s backhand made a difference. Then the willingness to compete when the rallies were over three shots was an issue.

“It’s tough when you are being outplayed. On a court like this, when it’s bouncing up so much, she probably didn’t know what the tactics would be. It didn’t really feel like there was a Plan B, but so much of that was to do with how well Rybakina was playing.”

Swiatek’s apparent lack of fight on court when the match is not going as she hoped is a problem that needs to be solved, with the Plan B option Robson mentioned clearly lacking from her game right now.

If she is to find more consistency moving into 2026, that is an area she needs to improve on.

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