“Everyone’s always speaking about results,” said Iga Swiatek after her 2024 US Open defeat at the hands of Jessica Pegula in the QFs. It’s the same event where she held her career’s third Grand Slam trophy in 2022, defeating Ons Jabeur. But this time, she stepped onto the court as a World No. 1 player, having played 11 tournaments already and winning five of them. Per Swiatek, her expectations were low, but the disappointment of a loss was huge, compelling her to break down after the match. And when this vulnerable moment of the player surfaced on social media, it drew criticism from the tennis community, including Aryna Sabalenka’s coach!

In the tennis courts, Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek (who have played 12 matches against each other) are fierce rivals, and we enjoyed their back-to-back clay court final round clash this year too! But behind the scenes, Sabalenka and her team hold immense respect for Swiatek, and Sabalenka’s coach, Gavin MacMillan’s latest comments during the “Talking Tennis” podcast further emphasize the same. The biomechanics specialist, who had an important role to play in improving Sabalenka’s serve issues (a couple of years ago) provided his insights on the disturbing aftermath of Swiatek’s loss to the eventual runner-up of the event, Pegula.

“At the US Open, Iga suffered a very unpleasant defeat against Jessica Pegula in the quarterfinals of the tournament. She wanted to win it as much as we did. Should we really watch her in the locker room? Sad, in a very private moment? I don’t think so. The same thing was done to us a year ago. This is very bad.” said MacMillan to Onet Przeglad Sportowy. As MacMillan mentioned, a similar incident happened with Sabalenka last year when Coco Gauff defeated her in the final round in New York. 

Unaware of the presence of a camera following her, fans worldwide got a glimpse of Sabalenka smashing a racquet in frustration in a locker room soon after her defeat. Further reflecting on the issue, MacMillan urged the media to give the players some moment to gather themselves after a loss. “What do you gain from this? Do you need a drama to promote women’s tennis? If so, you have a serious problem. This is poor marketing, it shows that Iga is an ordinary person. I already know that I don’t have to see her tears.” 

But sadly, even during her intense French Open match with Naomi Osaka, fans witnessed a similar moment of Iga Swiatek breaking down into tears while lying on a bench. “I was just overwhelmed with emotions,” she confessed later on. Swiatek further revealed that it was her disbelief at her own victory that led her to cry. But this time, after her New York defeat, she had a different viewpoint to share with fans!

Iga Swiatek reveals her struggles to deal with high expectations of performing well

Iga Swiatek’s clash with the American player, Pegula, mostly showcased a one-sided match, ending with 6-2, 6-4. Swiatek, who made 41 errors in the match, had an outburst of anger on-court as she smashed her racquet after the match. While she later admitted that it is never “easy” playing Pegula, the 23-year-old player could not help but address her own “too many mistakes” during the clash.

“I didn’t really understand why my serve wasn’t working. I feel like when I have high expectations, I never perform well. (But) it’s hard to have low expectations when everybody is expecting something from you,” the Polish player further added. Since her defeat in New York, Swiatek has remained absent from the tennis tournaments, withdrawing from the China Open and the Korea Open as well. However, fans are waiting to see her soon on-court, and this time with no tears and anger!