Iga Swiatek described losing to Danielle Collins in Rome as being hit by "a cold shower," but also noted that it led to her becoming more serious and working harder.
After failing to end her title drought in Stuttgart and Madrid, Rome was the Polish tennis star's last chance to avoid entering the French Open without a trophy in exactly 12 months.
Since Swiatek entered as this year's edition as the defending champion and had three titles overall at Foro Italico, there was definitely a reason for the 24-year-old to feel well about her chances. But then, she suffered her earliest loss in the Italian capital since 2020 after she fired 22 unforced errors and lost her serve six times during a 5-7 1-6 third-round loss to world No. 64 Collins.
The Polish tennis star, who was ranked at No. 2 at the time, also dropped out of the top-2 for the first time since early 2022.
However, Swiatek soon started to flashes of her old brilliance as she went on to reach the French Open semifinal, finish as runner-up in Bad Homburg, before delivering an outstanding run at Wimbledon and winning her first title at The Championships.
Now, the six-time Grand Slam champion reveals the Collins loss provided her with a spark she needed to rediscover her best form.
Swiatek: It was a cold shower that necessary for me to start working harder
"On the other hand, a shower that was necessary to later play the semifinal at Roland Garros and win Wimbledon. I can regret it, but I think it wouldn't have led me to actually start working harder, because I was working very hard and I really wanted those victories in the first part of the season. Especially since that was when I started working with Wim Fissette, and I wanted to prove that with such an experienced coach I could win even more," the Pole told TVP Sport.
"I added a bit of expectation on myself that was unnecessary. So, the desire was there, the efforts were there, but maybe not fully directed as they should have been. And only then would I say I got onto the right track regarding such constructive work in all aspects."
After ending her 13-month title drought at Wimbledon, Swiatek also landed her maiden title at the WTA 1000 tournament in Cincinnati. Also, the Polish tennis star triumphed at the WTA 500 tournament in Seoul and finished the year as the world No. 2.
