Tennis legend Martina Navratilova did not spare WTA No.1 Iga Swiatek, who claimed to be fatigued in the aftermath of her semifinal exit in Cincinnati.
Swiatek lost out to eventual champion Coco Gauff this past week, her first defeat against the young American in eight head-to-head matches. Speaking after the match, the Pole told reporters that she held no regrets about the match despite squandering the first set from a winning position.
Swiatek later added that her 'tank of fuel was pretty empty', indicating that she was low on energy and fatigued. While she wasn't giving away an excuse for her performance in the match, she was relieved to have additional days off ahead of the 2023 US Open.
But 18-time Grand Slam singles champion Navratilova treated Swiatek with a harsh dose of advice in the wake of those comments. The Tennis Channel commentator spoke to iNews and sympathized with Swiatek's schedule being stretched by her appearance at her home event in Warsaw, but argues that the 22-year-old hasn't played 'many tournaments'.
"The stress on the players, I understand that – and Iga being Polish she had to play Warsaw. Normally, if she wasn’t Polish, she would have never played [that event] and would have taken an extra couple of weeks of rest so maybe that’s why she’s tired."
"But I still have to say, ‘Come on, just suck it up’. It’s September, you didn’t play that many tournaments and this is the US Open. So if you can’t get up for that..if you’re that mentally tired, don’t play. Just take the time off, force yourself to take the vacation."
Swiatek will begin her title defense on Monday against Sweden's Rebecca Peterson and is projected to meet in-form Coco Gauff in the quarterfinal. As brutal as her advice was, Navratilova states that Swiatek should learn to deal with the spotlight and the nitty-gritty issues that come with it. Be it pressure or mindset, and adds that Swiatek needs to toughen up.
"I never gave myself permission to do that, and it never occurred to me that I could. Or just get on with it and say, ‘Okay, I’m fine. It’s just two weeks. It’s seven matches. I literally have to work hard for maybe 20 hours these next two weeks.’ You just suck it up and say, ‘I’m gonna get on with it and put it in perspective to what normal people do for a living."
"And yeah, you’re in the spotlight. But, you know, nice problem, right? This is what you wanted all your life. And here you are. So you just gotta toughen up on that front. I just don’t have that much sympathy, when I think about what we went through."
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