‘Don’t Need to Defend Anything’- After US Open Blow, Iga Swiatek Pens Down Emotional Message as She Snubs Aryna Sabalanka Over Her Glorious Achievement

When Iga Swiatek climbed the WTA ranking ladder to the top last year, she did not envision its future. After taking the baton from Ashleigh Barty, Swiatek tried her best to defend this world no. 1 title for 75 weeks. However, after all those weeks of glory, she stepped down from the podium as she unwillingly had to give her top spot to Aryna Sabalenka. Swiatek’s disheartening US Open fourth-round defeat against Jelena Ostapenko became the final nail in the coffin for her to step down from her position.

However, this has not led Swiatek to lose her winning mindset. Training hard and maintaining her mental resilience are the most important things for her as she looks forward to turning the odds in her favor.

The Polish tennis star became one of the most swiftly rising tennis players since last year on the WTA circuit. Her resilience and her skills led her to hold her world no. 1 ranking for 75 weeks.

However, all good things come to an end. Swiatek fell down to become world no. 2 after she faced a disheartening defeat by Jelena Ostapenko at the US Open in the fourth round.

However, this has not broken her spirit. In a heartfelt message to her fans, she confessed, “Last 1.5 year was a time of observing and experiencing how much people talk and write about “defending”, “defense” – of titles, ranking position, points.” This consequently affected her perspective too as she confessed even she felt influenced by that.

However, she added, “But… I don’t need to defend anything.” Putting down her words, she confessed her feelings for the sport. She stated, “For me, sport is a cycle of constant changes exactly like in everyday life, we can either win or lose – that’s it, it’s so simple.” As the new opportunities arrive, she feels they are to gain and achieve something and “not defend something.”