Iga Swiatek has berated her own performance after crashing out of the Miami Open in straight sets.
The world No.1 suffered a shock 6-4, 6-2, loss to Russia’s Ekaterina Alexandrova in the fourth round. Coming into the match Swiatek was on an eight-match winning streak and only dropped one set in all of those matches played.
However, she was unable to find a way to tame Alexandrova who has now beaten a top 10 players 13 times during her career. Swiatek was not able to break her opponent’s serve throughout the match which is something that hasn’t happened to her since her clash against Ash Barty at the 2022 Adelaide International. She also hit almost three times fewer winners than her rival (11 against 31).
“I just feel disappointed, for sure, because I thought I was going to play better here in Miami.” The four-time major winner commented afterwards.
“But she played an amazing match and for sure was the better player out there.”
Swiatek was bidding to achieve the Sunshine Double which is when a player wins both Indian Wells and Miami within the same season. A milestone she achieved in 2022. If she had done it again this year, the Pole would have become only the second woman to have achieved the double on multiple occasions after Steffi Graf.
“I was feeling that I couldn’t play in a natural way but it’s not like I always feel comfortable on court. I thought I would be able to work through that,” she said.
Meanwhile, Alexandrova is relishing her first-ever win over a reigning No.1 player on the Tour. She is playing in her 32nd WTA 1000 event with her best result being a run to the semi-finals of the 2022 Madrid Open. She could match that result in Miami if she wins her next match against fifth seed Jessica Pegula.
“Second quarter-final here, second year in a row,” Alexandrova said. “Beating Iga after so many tries and she’s No 1. It’s the first time I beat [a] No 1. All three things are very special to me.”
Following a series of surprise losses in the women’s draw, only three top-eight seeds have made it through to the quarter-final stage. They are Pegula, Maria Sakkari and Elena Rybakina.
