Iga Swiatek has explained her divided personal opinion about losing the WTA number one spot following an early exit at the 2023 US Open.
Swiatek was eliminated from the US Open in the round of 16 after Jeļena Ostapenko fought back from a set down to stun the 22-year-old. To add insult to injury, Swiatek was knocked off the WTA number one spot after the defeat and will be replaced by Aryna Sabalenka.
Ultimately, Swiatek was left disappointed that her 75-week run at the top of the women's rankings came to an end following a disappointing defeat at Flushing Meadows. However, when reflecting on her dethroning from the number one spot, the 22-year-old explained that there were conflicting emotions about the development as she vowed to refocus and go again in the future.
"Well, it meant a lot, obviously. It was great. On the other hand this last part, it was pretty exhausting. I still need to do all this stuff that my team and all these great players like Roger or Novak or Rafa are telling about: you just have to focus on the tournaments, not the rankings."
"But for me, I don't know, usually I'm not looking at numbers, but overall I love them. would love to, like, extend this record a little bit longer. This is something that when I was younger, I actually kind of wanted to break some record or have something. I already did that 'cause I already won a slam as a first Polish player. Obviously being No. 1 as the third player in history is great."
Swiatek also remained realistic and proud of what she has achieved in the game at such a young age. In addition, the 22-year-old felt the loss to Ostapenko was a blip in her development so far.
"But for sure when it happens, when you lose it, there are some sad emotions. Yeah, as I said at the beginning, all these great players know it's going to come back if you're going to work hard, focus on the right things, just develop as a player."
"For sure besides this match, which was pretty weird, I feel like I am progressing as a player. I have more skills. This season was - is still - the hardest part is already done for me, but this season was really tough and intense. It's not easy to cope with all of this stuff, yeah."
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