‘No Need To Bounce Back' – Iga Swiatek Downplays Shock US Open Exit

Iga Swiatek has played down the significance of her latest US Open defeat in which she let a commanding lead slip away from her. The former champion suffered a shock straight-sets loss to Qinwen Zheng, who had to come through qualifying to reach the main draw in Flushing Meadows. Swiatek lost seven games in a row after leading 5-0 in the first set. Then, in the second set, she failed to convert two break-point opportunities to move ahead 4-2 before losing another four consecutive games. Since winning the US Open in 2022, Swiatek has only managed to make it through to the quarter-finals in two out of four appearances. To put this into perspective, she has reached the semi-finals at least once at every other major event during this period. ' Honestly, every US Open except 2022 has been like that,' Swiatek told reporters when asked about dealing with defeat. 'We face many losses, so obviously it's not the best thing to say but in tennis you're more used to losing than winning. 'I don't feel like I need to bounce back from anything. I just need to focus on the work before the next tournaments, and there are going to be other chances to play good tennis. I will focus on growing and developing my game.' The way in which Swiatek lost to Zheng is unusual for somebody of her calibre. Out of the last 16 games played, she lost 13 of them. Coming into the US Open, Swiatek was high in confidence after winning the Canadian Open and reaching the semi-finals of Cincinnati, both WTA 1000 events. 'It's just one match. I'll try to play the same way as usual,' she said. 'You can lose a set from any score, so nothing special about that. Just that's what happened and that's it.' Whilst the Pole is downplaying her latest result, she does also have some regrets. 'Maybe I could have played more safe or something, but I also didn't feel like I had space with Qinwen to do that,' she explained. 'If I were more solid than her, I would win this game, but I wasn't solid and I was missing too much. 'I had some ideas of what to do with it. Some worked in the previous match, but it's not going to work every time.' It is the first time Switek has been beaten by a player ranked outside the top 100 since the 2025 Miami Open, when Alexandra Eala did so.