Iga Swiatek was dumped out of the China Open on Wednesday at the hands of Emma Navarro
Navarro proved too good for the Pole, who has consequently lost her first-ever match at the China Open.
The American, who will play compatriot Jessica Pegula in the quarter-finals, battled through two tough sets before ‘bagelling’ the world number two in the final set.
Swiatek struggled mightily during the contest, fading in the last set as Navarro strengthened her stranglehold on the contest.
This was simply a poor performance by the Pole, who lost 6-4, 4-6, 6-0, and will hope to swiftly leave the performance in the past.
Iga Swiatek records 70 unforced errors against Emma Navarro
This was certainly a day to forget for Iga Swiatek.
The Pole failed to reach her usual high standards, offering her opponent a plethora of cheap points throughout the match.
As per OptaAce Iga Swiatek struck 70 unforced errors during her match against Navarro, the second-most in her career in a single WTA-1000 match.
Swiatek has beaten that total just once before at WTA 1000 events: she hit 83 against Barbora Krejcikova during their Italian Open round of 16 match in 2021.
Swiatek’s failure to advance has significantly harmed her chances of achieving something for the third time on the WTA Tour, while giving Aryna Sabalenka a big boost.
Aryna Sabalenka strengthens chances of finishing year as world number one
Although Iga Swiatek gained 120 WTA points by reaching the round of 16 in Beijing, she missed the opportunity to significantly reduce the gap between herself and Aryna Sabalenka in the race for year-end world number one status.
With Sabalenka absent from the WTA 1000 tournament, and Swiatek defending no points from 2024, the Pole had the opportunity to move within 2,000 points of the Belarusian.
The Belarusian will lose 215 points as a result of her absence, leaving her on 11,010 points.
After gaining 120 points, Swiatek now sits on a total of 8,553 points. However, if the Pole had gone on to win the China Open, she would have moved up to 9,333 points.
The six-time Grand Slam champion had reduced the gap to Sabalenka after winning the Korea Open, but has now suffered a major setback following her loss to Navarro.
Yet, Iga Swiatek will have further opportunities to close the gap: she only has 400 points to defend for the rest of the year, while Sabalenka has 1,400 points to defend.
