"I don't have that much sympathy" - Martina Navratilova lashes out at Iga Swiatek for tiredness complaint ahead of US Open, suggests she 'suck it up'
Martina Navratilova recently chastised World No. 1 Iga Swiatek for complaining about being tired ahead of the 2023 US Open.
Swiatek is the favorite to defend her title at Flushing Meadows this year, starting her campaign against Sweden's Rebecca Peterson on Monday. However, she has suffered two defeats this summer, losing to Jessica Pegula in Montreal and Coco Gauff in Cincinnati, both in the semifinals.
Swiatek told the media after her defeat to Gauff in Cincinnati that she was tired and would now give her body enough time to refresh and reset after operating on an 'empty tank.'
"Well, from my perspective I would say my tank of fuel is pretty empty. Honestly, I'm not even going to kind of regret a lot because I'm happy that I'm going to have days off now," Iga Swiatek said.
Martina Navratilova responded to Iga Swiatek's comments in an interview with iNews, saying that while she understands the pressure on the Pole, she still believes that if the World No. 1 can't get up for the US Open and is mentally tired, she shouldn't play.
"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," Navratilova said.
"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," she added.
The Czech-born American then advised Iga Swiatek to take the pressure off herself, put everything into perspective, and "suck it up."
"So put it in perspective, take the pressure off yourself and say, ‘Okay, I’m just gonna give everything I have when I play the matches.’ You just suck it up and say, ‘Okay, get on with it’ and put it in perspective to what normal people do for a living. Yeah, you’re in the spotlight but you know, nice problem, right?" Navratilova said.
The 18-time Grand Slam champion added:
"This is what you want all your life and here you are. So you just gotta toughen up on that front. I don’t have that much sympathy for that when I think about what we went through. Get on with it."
Aryna Sabalenka can take the World No. 1 ranking away from Iga Swiatek at US Open 2023
Iga Swiatek first took her place at the top of the women's game last year. She has held the World No. 1 ranking continuously since then, and while she will enter this year's US Open as the favorite, her ranking will be at stake as Aryna Sabalenka will utilize every opportunity to sit on the WTA throne.
Sabalenka returns to Flushing Meadows knowing that a title on her preferred surface can help her reclaim the top ranking from Swiatek. In fact, all the Belarusian has to do in New York this fortnight is win one match more than the Pole, and the World No. 1 spot will be hers.