Iga Swiatek couldn't hold back tears after her exit from the 2024 US Open when she lost to Jessica Pegula in the quarter-finals.
The Polish entered the 2024 US Open as the World No. 1 player, and even though she will leave the tournament as the highest-ranked player on the WTA Tour, she won't leave it with a trophy in her luggage compartment.
Jessica Pegula proved to be too difficult to overcome for Swiatek, as the American player was surprisingly able to dominate the match and win in only two sets of play, 6-2, 6-4.
While Pegula played well enough to outplay her opponent and reach her maiden major semi-final, Swiatek was very, very far from her best level. She produced 41 unforced errors while hitting only 12 winners in the match.
It was a ration that simply couldn't carry her to victory, and it didn't. As the World No. 1 player on the WTA Tour, Swiatek wants to win every tournament, and the same applied to the 2024 US Open.
She had success at Flushing Meadows before, having won the 2022 US Open, but this year, her run ended already in the quarter-finals, meaning that once again, she couldn't add to her collection of Grand Slam titles, which outside of the French Open, includes only lone US Open title from 2022.
After the loss, the Polish player spoke about how results were not the main goals for her and that she focused on improving as a tennis player instead of wanting to reach a certain stage of a tournament.
On top of that, she was also very honest when assessing her own performance, being aware of the shortcomings that eventually cost her the match.
"I was telling myself that I can still play well from the baseline. And I've had many tournaments where I didn't serve well and I managed to win anyway. But I probably didn't find the right solution because I couldn't push with my serve."
"Also, I wasn't that solid from the baseline to have a backup like that. You're not going to win if you make so many mistakes, and I made those and it's on me."
Still, despite not focusing on her results and being aware of the mistakes made, at heart, Swiatek is a competitor, and as such, every match means a lot to her, and every loss hurts her, regardless of whether it's in the first round of a WTA 250 tournament or in the final of a major.
This time, it was in the quarter-final of a Grand Slam tournament, and the fact that Swiatek cared about the match was obvious from behind-the-scenes footage that was broadcast.
The Polish player was having her cooldown session, lying on a mat, when she couldn't hold back tears following the loss to Pegula.
Despite the loss, there are many positives to look at for the 23-year-old. She has a significant lead in both the WTA Rankings and the WTA Race, and there are many more trophies that she can win in the remainder of the season.
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