Iga Swiatek’s hopes of completing a Career Slam this season came to an end in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open.
Swiatek entered Melbourne as one of the tournament favourites, with the Australian Open standing as the only Grand Slam she has yet to claim.
The six-time major champion got off to a strong start, easing past Madison Inglis to reach another quarter-final appearance.
She knew Elena Rybakina would be a tough opponent, and despite her best efforts, she couldn’t find a way past her into the semi-finals.
Following her quarter-final exit from the Australian Open, Swiatek addressed a comment made by her competitor, Aryna Sabalenka, stating that she disagrees with the sentiment.
Iga Swiatek responds to Aryna Sabalenka’s comments about the tennis schedule
Swiatek and Rybakina had met several times before, but this time the Russian levelled their head-to-head record by winning 7-5, 6-1, under the lights on Rod Laver Arena.
The world number one was asked about a range of topics in her post-match press conference, including some of Sabalenka’s recent comments.
Sabalenka has said she does not mind skipping WTA 1000 events if she needs more time to rest or improve her game, a stance Swiatek was questioned about after her loss.
When asked whether she might also take breaks to focus on technical adjustments, Swiatek admitted it is something she’s considering, though not in quite the same way as Sabalenka described. She explained that making big changes during a packed season isn’t easy.
The Polish star said: “Yeah, I don’t feel it’s possible to do that, you know, in the short period of time that we have between tournaments. So last year I had trouble with making this kind of decision, but this year I’m trying to change my approach. So I think, for sure, we’ll skip some 1000 tournaments.
“I was never in this position, so I don’t know what the result will be, but I think it’s necessary, because if you want to improve your game, unless I want to stay, like, the same and just prepare for every tournament, then I can do that as well. I’ll play well, but if I want to improve something, it will be nice to have some time. Unfortunately, calendar doesn’t give that.”
Swiatek could put those words into action soon enough with two back-to-back WTA 1000 events coming up at Doha and Dubai.
Iga Swiatek suggests reason why she is yet to win the Australian Open
Before last year, Wimbledon was the Slam that Swiatek had found most challenging, having never reached the semi-finals.
But her breakthrough came in 2025 when she won Wimbledon for the first time, leaving just the Australian Open left to complete her set of Grand Slam titles.
After losing to Rybakina, Swiatek explained that one of her biggest hurdles in Melbourne has been adapting to the speed of the courts.
“Well, for sure I didn’t serve as well as, I don’t know, in Cincinnati, for example, against Elena. My serve was kind of normal, and sometimes it could have gave me a bit more.
“As I said, like in first set I think it was a difference of a couple points. She also, I thought, gave me some chances on her serve, and sometimes I used them. Sometimes it was, like, 30-All and, for example, I missed one return. You know, I wanted to be aggressive on the second serve, so sometimes, yeah, will make mistakes. But if you want to break, you need to make it in in the moment like that.
“Then in the second set I thought, I don’t know, that the pace from her got a little bit even higher, and she was more precise, and maybe I dropped the intensity at the beginning especially.
“But it’s, like, I have some stuff I want to work on. It’s never been so, like, flawless for me playing on these courts, as they are fast, you know? I guess I’ll try next time, anyway,” she stated.
Despite feeling that she has underperformed at times in Australia over recent years, Swiatek has still managed two semi-final runs.
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