Iga Swiatek looks lost out on court at the moment, and yesterday that was made glaringly obvious by Alexandra Eala.
Although the 21-year-old performed sensationally well, this was a match marred by error after error from the defending Wimbledon champion, who would paint the lines from deep in the court one point only to inexplicably mis-hit an easy volley the next.
She gesticulated towards her box and to the sky throughout, looking for answers that were not forthcoming.
In the end, she deserved to lose, and was made to pay for her profligacy by Eala.
For all the praise flooding in for this Filipina sensation, and rightly so, such a result arguably says much more about Iga Swiatek’s current state than anything. Martina Navratilova and Jim Courier both emphasised this when delivering their post-match analysis on Tennis Channel.
Martina Navratilova highlights Iga Swiatek’s biggest failure vs Alex Eala
Asked to decipher what Eala did so well that unsettled Swiatek, Navratilova began by stating: “Today, I think the recipe was to mix up the serves. Hit a lot of body serves into the Swiatek forehand or backhand, and she just could not figure out how to return better serves. She did not get those break points, and she defended really well.
“And Swiatek, quite frankly, was not good emotionally. She was just so up and down; she could not keep it together today.”
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This prompted Courier to ask: “What’s going on with her forehand, though?”
He continued: “I mean, that shot is a devastating shot, typically, and granted, grass is very different than her best surface clay for that shot; it gets on you faster, it stays lower, but she missed a lot of rally balls today that were on big points.”
Navratilova did not have all the answers, but did suggest one worrying theory: “Well, it seems to me in the past, when she has got nervous in the point, and she would overhit, she would still swing or mis-hit, but now she’s decelerating, and with that grip, when you decelerate you’re dead. So I think that’s where the errors are coming from.”
Swiatek stated that Eala’s game bothered her after the match. The Swiatek of old would not have let something as menial as her opponent’s unorthodox game unsettle her rhythm.
When was the last time Iga Swiatek won a title?
Before her Wimbledon title last summer, Swiatek was enduring a trophy drought that stretched back over a year.
Her current barren spell is not too far away from eclipsing that worrisome run.
The 24-year-old’s last trophy came in September last year, when she beat Ekaterina Alexandrova in the final.
It capped off a strong summer for Swiatek, who had won Wimbledon, then the Cincinnati Open before this triumph.
How many Grand Slams will Alex Eala win in her career? 🏆
She's just knocked out the defending Wimbledon champion!
After a really tough start to the year, she seemed to have steered herself back on track, but has since seemingly fallen back into underwhelming old patterns.
Swiatek has not reached a final since that September triumph, with just one semi-final to her name as well.
Given her current form, it is hard to predict a quick turnaround in her fortunes anytime soon.
