Iga Swiatek suffered a surprise defeat at the hands of Magda Linette in the second round of the Miami Open.
Swiatek said she was ‘confused’ by her performance as she suffered her first opening stage defeat since 2021.
The Pole has not started the season well at all and she has dropped out of the top two of the rankings for the first time in two years as a result.
Despite her form spiralling, Swiatek can find solace in Carlos Alcaraz’s turnaround in form at last year’s Miami Open.
Carlos Alcaraz has shown Iga Swiatek that she would not panic
Swiatek is yet to reach past the quarter-final stages of any tournament in 2026, but her second round exit in Miami is undoubtedly her most worrying result and performance so far.
Nevertheless, the world number three can take some comfort in the fact that she will not get an extended head start on the upcoming clay court season.
Swiatek has flourished on clay and she should try and follow what Alcaraz did last year after his Miami Open second round defeat to David Goffin.
Do you think Iga Swiatek will win a Grand Slam this season?
Much like Swiatek, Alcaraz struggled to assert himself at the top of the ATP Tour in the first three months of 2025.
After his Miami Open exit, however, he found some of his best form for a long while during the European clay court swing.
Alcaraz won the Monte Carlo Masters and the Italian Open, as well as Roland Garros, which helped him find the form that helped him usurp Jannik Sinner at the top of the rankings.
On her favourite surface, Swiatek should be looking to emulate the world number one to try and help her turn her season around.
Iga Swiatek’s recent record on the clay court swing
Swiatek has signed up for the Stuttgart Open and she is also expected to play the two Masters events in Madrid and Rome.
The Pole has won all three events in her career, but she failed to win any of them during her run on the clay in 2025.
Aryna Sabalenka or Iga Swiatek… who do you prefer? 🤔
She also failed to win Roland Garros for a fourth time in a row, after being beaten in the semi-final by Aryna Sabalenka.
Despite her lack of trophy victories on the clay, Swiatek still ended the swing with an impressive record in 2025.
She won 11 of her 15 matches on the surface, which equates to an 87% win rate. Despite her downturn in form, Swiatek will still provide an exceptionally tough challenge on clay.
