Iga Swiatek Sheds Light On Injury Issues After Another Medical Timeout At United Cup
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Iga Swiatek seemingly struggled with an injury at the 2025 United Cup, and she shed more light on her struggles after the final tie against the United States.
Poland once again came close to winning the United Cup trophy but not close enough. In 2024, Hubert Hurkacz had match points against Alexander Zverev, but that was not enough for the country to lift the United Cup trophy.
This year, they lost to the United States, but it wasn't that close, as the American team dominated the tie, winning 2-0. As the highest-ranked WTA player in the competition, Swiatek was the favorite to win her singles match, but she didn't.
Coco Gauff played an insanely inspired match, putting together one of the best performances of her career, but there was another reason that was to blame for Swiatek's loss.
Already in the quarter-final tie against Great Britain, Swiatek requested a medical timeout against Katie Boulter. She was able to win the match despite having her leg bandaged.
She then bested Elena Rybakina in the semi-finals of the tournament, but in her loss to Gauff, when down 4-6 and 4-5, the Polish player once again requested a medical timeout, after which she lost the match 4-6, 4-6.
Speaking during the press conference after the loss to Gauff, Swiatek knew the question about her physical state would come sooner or later, and she only shortly hinted at not being 100% healthy.
"Well, for sure, you know, I wasn't fresh today, but I'll be good. So nothing happens."
One week ahead of a major, only this short answer wasn't sufficient from one of the top favorites, so Swiatek was asked to elaborate more about the situation, explaining that she was mostly tired.
That answer certainly raised some eyebrows, as tiredness is not a reason for a medical timeout and the World No. 2 player had to be dealing with some underlying issue to be able to request a medical timeout.
"Well, taping wasn't a different leg, but nothing happened really. Like, I was just tired. You know, the volume at the beginning of the tournament especially has been pretty big, so yeah, but honestly, like, this really, it's all good."
Assessing the United Cup overall, Swiatek was happy about playing some really challenging matches. At the same time, she emphasized that she wasn't at her best in the final match against Gauff.
"And I'm for sure happy, because, you know, I played some heavy hitters as well this week and also some girls that played tough. I was able to play against both really great tennis. For sure today I wasn't able to give 100%."
"Coco also played amazing, and she's for sure improving. But overall, I'm really happy with the week. I feel like things I worked on really improved."
"But on the other hand, like, this week, and the Australian Open is a different story, so still I'm gonna do everything step by step and continue the work that I have been doing."
