Iga Swiatek was sadly forced to cut her Madrid Open campaign short yesterday, having retired mid-way through her match against Ann Li.
Losing the opening set, it did feel like something was wrong with the former world number one, who was not playing with her usual intensity.
However, her champion’s spirit re-emerged in the second set, and once she had won that, it only felt as tough there’d be one winner.
Sadly for both her and those who were hoping for a deep run from Iga Swiatek in Madrid, she could not shake the ailment that had plagued her throughout the match, and she left the court in tears.
The 24-year-old has since explained why she felt that retiring from the match was her only decision.
Iga Swiatek speaks for the first time after her retirement from the Madrid Open
Speaking at her post-match press conference, she began by claiming: “The last two days was pretty terrible.”
This was in reference to a stomach virus that has been circulating around the grounds at the Madrid Open, with Swiatek the latest and biggest casualty thus far.
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She retired from her third-round match in Madrid…
She elaborated on this, claiming: “There is something going on between players that the virus is somewhere on site, so I’m sure I’ll be fine in a couple of days, but I had zero energy and zero stability.
“I just felt really bad physically and yesterday even worse, so I thought maybe today it’s going to be better, but maybe it was not enough to play tennis as much.”
Having rarely retired from any matches in her career, one journalist stated that it must take something truly bad to force Swiatek to cut things short.
This prompted her to admit: “Well, I still felt like I had a chance, but then in the third set I started feeling even like a little bit dizzy and not really coordinated, so I couldn’t really drink anything because I just felt like I’m full constantly and the energy went down drastically.
“Until the third set started, I felt like I still have a chance. So this was the case right now. But I don’t remember the second time I retired.”
It’s frustrating that we were not able to properly see the benefits of Swiatek’s training session with Rafael Nadal due to this illness, and we’ll hope to see her back fully fit in time for Rome.
Iga Swiatek’s worrying start to life under Francisco Roig
Although this latest loss on the record is a harsh one to count, it does add to a rocky start to life for Swiatek under her new coach Francisco Roig.
Having hired the Spaniard earlier this month, it was never going to provoke an instant revolution.
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After all, the Polish superstar’s struggles have been ongoing for over a year now, and will require far deeper analysis than just a few weeks’ work.
Alas, two wins and two losses from their first four matches together is not the kind of instant upturn in results that they might have hoped for.
The real test will be in Rome, with it being the last chance for a fully fit Swiatek to find some form ahead of Roland Garros.
