The exhausted Iga Swiatek said she will try to take the pressure a little easier after losing to Jelena Ostapenko (Latvia) in the fourth round of the US Open. The loss will cost the Polish tennis player her 75-week stay at the top of the women’s world rankings.
Iga Swiatek took over the top spot from Ashleigh Barty after the Australian retired from tennis in April 2022 and went on an impressive run in the following months, adding three more Grand Slam titles to her 2020 Roland Garros success.
Only two other tennis players have held the top position for more consecutive weeks in their first stint at the top – Steffi Graf (186) and Martina Hingis (80).
The top position will now be occupied by Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus when the rankings are updated on September 11.
“I don’t usually look at the stats, but overall I like it. I wish I could have increased my record a bit more. It’s something I really wanted to do when I was little – to break a record or something. I’ve already done it, winning a title from Grand Slam. It’s good to be number 1, so when you lose the first place it’s sad. It’s not easy to cope with all the things”, said the 22-year-old Polish tennis player.
Iga Swiatek added that she hopes to come back stronger on the court. “The next time I’m in a similar situation, I would do some things differently because I felt a lot of pressure, and I shouldn’t have. Tennis in general is stressful, but I have to deal with the pressure better”, she said.
