Iga Swiatek wird die Saison ohne Grand-Slam-Titel beenden.
Die Polin ist gestern bei den US Open aus dem letzten Grand-Slam-Turnier des Jahres ausgeschieden. Gegen Qinwen Zheng verspielte Swiatek eine Führung und musste sich nach einer starken Aufholjagd der Chinesin mit 7:5, 6:3 geschlagen geben.
Die ehemalige Nummer eins der Welt zeigte sich trotz der großen Enttäuschung selbstkritisch und führte die Niederlage vor allem auf zu viele eigene Fehler zurück. Dadurch habe sie ihre Gegnerin zurück ins Match gebracht:
"I felt that I was missing too many shots, she started to play better and I allowed her to get back into the match. But, honestly, my concentration was the same as always. I wanted to play as usual. I just started making too many mistakes, I tried to correct the situation, but at that point nothing was working anymore. I knew I would have another chance and I wanted to take advantage of it, but I missed them all.
Today I wouldn't say it was a question of mentality. It was more that I started making mistakes, you know, on easy balls, while Qinwen stopped making mistakes. She played those balls better. yes, I feel like I got over it. Obviously it's not as easy for me to play here as it is on a slightly slower surface, where the ball bounces slightly higher. But I still think I could have played a little bit better, so that's a shame. However, it seems to me that in this part of the season she has managed this kind of situation better."
Swiatek unterliegt Zheng in New York
Swiatek wollte der Niederlage jedoch keine zusätzliche Bedeutung beimessen und erinnerte an ihre bisherigen Erfahrungen in New York:
"All the US Open, except for the one in 2022, went like this. So we faced a lot of defeats. Obviously it's not the best thing you can say, but in tennis you are more used to losing than winning. So I don't feel the need to recover from anything.
I just have to focus on working for the next tournaments, and there will be other opportunities to play good tennis. I will focus on growing and developing my game.
That's it, Maybe I could have played more cautiously or something, but I also didn't feel I had room against Qinwen to do it. If I had been more solid than her, I would have won the match, but I wasn't solid and I was making too many mistakes," schloss die Polin.