"Iga Swiatek doesn’t act like a No. 1 on court anymore";"No idea what happened" - Fans react to Pole's shock loss in Australian Open 3R
Iga Swiatek's loss in the third round of the 2024 Australian Open has drawn a flurry of reactions on social media.
Swiatek crashed out of the Australian Open on Saturday after a 6-3, 3-6, 4-6 defeat to Czech teenager Linda Noskova. The Pole has never reached the final at the 'Happy Slam,' with her best performance being a semi-final appearance in 2022.
Reacting to her defeat, users on Twitter opined that she has started to look lacklustre in recent times, with one fan saying:
"Problem is she that she doesn’t act like a No.1 on court anymore… just an average player with excess nerves destined to lose…"
Some fans said they had no clue what had happened to their favourite player, especially considering her good show at the recently concluded United Cup in Australia. The World No. 1 went undefeated at the tournament, leading her home country to the final before they lost to Germany.
"Yep, her draw was brutal but this is a pretty bad loss anyway. Truth is even considering the opponents, she never played at her level this week. No idea what happened coming from United Cup to this. This is her worst slam performance since the 2019 US Open for me," a fan said.
Some fans blamed the tricky draw, which saw her run into tough competitors such as Sofia Kenin and Danielle Collins. Swiatek managed to take down Kenin and Collins in tough matches, before running out of steam against Noskova.
"Iga's draw was so tricky with Kenin, Collins, Svitolina, Rybakina but I bet nobody saw Nosková beating her," a fan of British tennisstar EmmaRaducanu said.
"She needs to fired her coach they're the reason she lacks of serve and variety shots," one fan wrote.
"I'm so so hurt. I feel like her game has been so passive over the years. She really plays like a more athletic Radwanska. I need her to change up the coaching team at some point. That guy isn't adding enough variety to hergame. She needs to stop the extended rallies," another user said.
Here are some more reactions from fans:
"I could reset and just focus on next tournaments" - Iga Swiatek after her loss at the Australian Open
Despite suffering a shock loss, World No. 1 Iga Swiatek asserted that she has no regrets, while at the same time admitting that she could have played better at the Australian Open.
"I lost but I'm going to have more tournaments. I remember just last year getting back to work. I could reset and just focus on next tournaments. So I'm going to do the same this year," she said in her post-match press conference.
The Pole conceded that she was not playing her best in her third-round loss to Czech teenager Linda Noskova, saying:
"I just feel like I need to analyze and see what I've done wrong. Sometimes I felt that I'm doing things wrong even during the game, but it was kind of too late to change that because I already lost the point."