By Shrivathsa Sridhar, Reuters.
Iga Swiatek said she would try to simplify her game after the six-times Grand Slam champion was stunned 1-6 7-5 6-3 by world number 50 Magda Linette at the Miami Open on Thursday for her first opening defeat in 74 WTA tournaments.
The world number three, who received a bye into the second round, looked to be cruising after sweeping through the first set but her Polish compatriot Linette soon turned the tables to cause the event’s first major upset.
“Tennis feels complicated in my head,” Swiatek told reporters. “I know it’s supposed to be simple. In terms of my mentality and how I feel on court, it’s going to take a while.”
The 24-year-old said her tactical game unravelled in the second and third sets, contributing to her first opening defeat since the 2021 WTA Finals.
“It just was a bad match for me … unconsciously, or consciously, it’s hard for me to say. I need to work to get back from that, because I haven’t felt things like that for like five years,” she added.
“I’ll just get back to work, try to get something positive out of the practices and try to figure it out.”
Linette, 34, played down the significance of the win.
“I don’t like to make a fuss about it because there aren’t too many Polish players, so there’s a little more attention,” said Linette, who plays Alexandra Eala next.
“Obviously Iga sets such a high standard for us that’s often not reachable. I think it was an amazing win for me, it means so much at this stage of my career but I don’t want to comment about it in a way that could put her down.”
In first-round action, Venus Williams fell to 0-6 on the season when she lost to Great Britain’s Francesca Jones 7-5, 7-5. Williams, 45, has lost nine matches in a row since earning a first-round win at Washington last summer.
Sloane Stephens downed Jennifer Brady 6-4, 6-2 in an all-U.S. matchup. U.S. players Taylor Townsend, Caty McNally, Hailey Baptiste, Ann Li, Peyton Stearns and Alycia Parks all advanced, while Ashlyn Krueger and Katie Volynets lost.