Martina Navratilova thinks WTA players are now more confident that they can beat world No 1 Iga Swiatek. After losing a total of nine matches last year and putting up an absolutely dominant season, Swiatek has already lost four matches in 2023 and she has been looking vulnerable.
So far in 2023, Elena Rybakina has managed to beat Swiatek twice and Barbora Krejcikova and Jessica Pegula also managed to get a win against the Pole. “The way Swiatek imposed herself on the game, there was a clear No. 1.
We got a true champion here, not just somebody that got there by default because Iga really earned that position. But she’s had a few hiccups this year, and it maybe hasn’t gone as well as she would’ve liked. The players feel that.
It’s that locker room confidence they get when they see other players beating Iga or giving her trouble, they think, ‘Why not me?’ So now it’s going to be difficult for her,” Navratilova said on Tennis Channel, per Sportskeeda.
In Indian Wells, Swiatek failed to defend her title after losing to Rybakina in the semifinal. After losing to Rybakina, Swiatek said she was hampered by a rib injury. A few days later, Swiatek pulled out of Miami, where she was also the defending champion.
“You know that in and after Doha I was struggling with a strong infection. I was allowed to play, but a strong episode of a tough cough led to a rib injury. We were trying to handle it and continue to play as long as it was safe for me.
We were analyzing the data in the last days and my doctor prepared my diagnosis. Unfortunately, I’m still feeling a lot of discomfort and pain and I can’t compete. need to take a break to recover and I have to pull out of the Miami Open and Billie Jean King Cup,” Swiatek announced last week.
Swiatek is expected to play again at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, which starts on April 17th.
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