Iga Swiatek‘s loss to Alexandra Eala at Wimbledon prompted the Pole to take a hard look at her game. The defending champion came into this contest as the favorite, but an error-strewn performance ended her title defense. After the match, the former World No.1 took stock of the situation and had little kind to say about herself.

“When things aren’t going well, it’s always a bit like you’re fighting against yourself,” said Swiatek in her post-match press conference. “In many matches, I just played stupidly and made poor tactical decisions. Sure, sometimes it’s not easy, but each of us sometimes battles emotions and certain thoughts.”

The Pole was seen in a jittery mood on the court, smashing rackets and having verbal confrontations with her coach, which is off-brand for Swiatek.

Swiatek has recently not looked the mental giant she was during her peak, with frequent outbursts on court that have seen her falter in crucial moments, eventually failing to hold on to leads. There have been multiple instances that have been telling as far as Swiatek’s mindset is concerned, including her confession of “feeling tense” after the loss to Marta Kostyuk at the French Open, followed by the Pole breaking down in tears after a tough first-round win against Taylor Townsend at SW19.

As far as tactical decisions are concerned, Swiatek was considered an expert top-spin player who had excellent court movement. She was famous for her ability to keep opponents from coming back in a match, making her one of the best frontrunners in the sport in modern times. However, her performance against Eala showed a definite lack of clarity in her thinking on court, leading to countless unforced errors and giving her opponent back the advantage, even though she had fought back, especially in the first set.

Barring the comment about playing stupidly, another significant comment by Swiatek at the press conference saw the Pole decisively outline her expectations for her performance.

Iga Swiatek Manages Future Expectations After Wimbledon Loss

After her loss to Eala, Swiatek opened up about how she had completely different expectations of herself after Wimbledon. To put it in context, this was the Pole’s 12th loss of the season, and combined with the 17 losses she had last year, that’s 29 losses in one and a half seasons for the former World No.1. On the other hand, during her peak from 2022 to 2024, she had 29 losses, but in three full seasons, with only 9 losses in the 2022 and 2024 seasons.

‘I don’t have good results. So I’m not gonna expect for myself good results because they’re just not happening”, said Swiatek. “I’m not on that level yet.”

The Pole talked about a restart in her game, with her needing to decide whether she wants to go back to the old topspin game completely or keep her flatter groundstrokes and stick to that game plan. Most importantly, she has to improve her serve, either by changing her motion or with the help of a biomechanics coach like some of her peers, Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff.

Most importantly, she needs to regain her confidence, which has certainly taken a hit after this loss. This also entails a rankings drop and the potential to miss the WTA Finals for the first time in five years. As her recent losses have shown, other players are catching up to her, and she has lost the aura she once had in the locker room, which means she has to make some big changes and make them very soon.