Iga Swiatek receives consoling message from Andrea Petkovic amid criticism ahead of French Open
German former tennis player Andrea Petkovic showed belief in Iga Swiatek as the French Open nears, despite the Pole's struggle for form. Swiatek last played at the Italian Open, where she made a second round exit after losing to Danielle Collins.
Swiatek is a four-time French Open champion, but goes into this year's event at Roland Garros amid a downturn in form. The 23-year-old hasn't won a tour-level title since her French Open triumph last year, and has faced some criticism for her performances in recent months.
Fresh off a shock second-round loss at the Italian Open, Iga Swiatek is set to drop to number five on the WTA rankings. As she braces for the French Open to maintain her win streak on the clay court, Swiatek has received support from Andrea Petkovic.
The latter, on her piece in Substack article, called From doubters to sinners, compared herself with Swiatek, noting that she chose to be affected by doubts, but the Pole showed great determination to become the best tennis player.
"We can see what happens when the absence of doubt becomes absent with Iga Swiatek right now. Everything that seemed natural and innate becomes artificial and forced. What once flowed now stutters, what once was natural now is hard."
"It’s almost easier for somebody like me who one day just got used to having doubts. They were foes no more, only bizarre voices in my head. Iga, on the other hand, never had to live with them. All she ever knew how to be was the best tennis player in the world. She will calibrate again, that’s what champions do."
Swiatek started her year with a strong showing at the Australian Open but succumbed to Madison Keys in the semifinals.
Iga Swiatek expressed her feelings about devastating exit from the 2025 Italian Open
Iga Swiatek has been going through a tough stretch and fell to a shock defeat to Danielle Collins at the Italian Open. Afterwards, she shared that she felt she was doing something "wrong", but also added that she was determined to find her way back to the top.
"For sure it hasn't been easy. For sure I'm doing something wrong. So I need to just regroup and kind change some stuff, had some advice from the team. I'll just try to do this."
She further talked about her mindset, saying:
"I'm just going to change my mindset a little bit. I don't know. Well, I think I just wasn't there to present to, like, fight and to compete. I focused on my mistakes. It's my mistake and I'm not doing things right. So yeah, the focus is on the wrong things from my side and I'll try to change that."
In addition to her four French Open titles, Iga Swiatek also has one US Open title to her name, having won at Flushing Meadows in 2022.