Iga Swiatek gives her theory over why Coco Gauff, Aryna Sabalenka and herself have all struggled since the Australian Open

Iga Swiatek believes she knows exactly why the top players have suffered some surprising results since the Australian Open.

The World number two has yet to win a title this year and fell short in her quest to win the Dubai Tennis Championships.

Swiatek suffered her first loss to Mirra Andreeva in the quarter-finals of the 1000 event, as the Russian reached her first semi-final at that level.

The Dubai Open is the second tournament at WTA 1000 level in as many weeks and the players inside the top 10 have been struggling.

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Why does Iga Swiatek think the top players have struggled since the Australian Open?

Since the Australian Open, life has not been easy for those ranked inside the WTA Tour’s top 10.

Iga Swiatek has reached at least the quarter-finals of each event she has played this year, but the same cannot be said for some of her rivals.

Coco Gauff lost her Australian Open quarter-final to Paula Badosa, and has since lost her last two matches to Marta Kostyuk and McCartney Kessler.

Sabalenka suffered successive losses at the Australian Open and in Qatar, before being on the receiving end of a crushing defeat to Clara Tauson in Dubai.

These results and more have been surprising to say the least, but following the end of her Dubai campaign, Swiatek, offered an explanation as to why these results are occurring.

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“For sure it’s a calendar thing. Like, we’re not going to be able to be consistent for many years playing week by week,” she told a reporter during his press conference.

“Also it’s not like some time ago that outside of, like, top-20 players, they were just getting destroyed more. Now anybody can win these tournaments. It has been like that for a couple of years.

“But I feel like the calendar is not helping. Again, like, we need to switch continents, we need to switch surfaces, we need to switch the balls. Yeah, it’s not easy. I’m not surprised.”

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The WTA’s top 10 players struggle during the Middle East swing

While Gauff and Sabalenka have struggled since the Australian Open, their fellow top 10 players have also had a tough time.

World number four Jasmine Paolini has won just four singles matches since the start of the year and was unable to defend the Dubai Open title.

Since reaching the Adelaide International final, Jessica Pegula has registered just five victories, and lost her second match in Dubai against Linda Noskova.

Emma Navarro reached the Australian Open quarter-finals but has won just two matches outside of that event, while Olympic champion Qinwen Zheng has just one match win in 2025.

On the other hand Elena Rybakina is into the Dubai Open semi-finals while World number six Madison Keys has not played since winning the Australian Open.

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