ANALYSIS: Is this the worst slump of Iga Swiatek's career after loss to World No.140 at Miami Open

Thursday, 27 March 2025 at 10:06

From dominant force to not holding a title outside of clay and needing to defend a smorgasbord of points going into her best surface, iga Swiatek could be perceived of going through the worst slump of her career right now.

This after Swiatek's crushing loss to Alexandra Eala who started the week as World No.140 and will go up into the top 75 come what may at the end of this week. But is a player that Swiatek has swatted aside in terms of profile on numerous occasions in the past few years.

There are many factors behind it. Whether you count the man harassing her off court while she was practicing and sending her hateful messages online down to the security presence she now needs.

She is also still technically bedding in a new coach in Wim Fissette who joined only at the back end of last season so has only actually been involved for a few months. As well as the ban which saw her stealthily miss the end of last season which she has called one of the toughest periods of her life.

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She tested positive for the substance known as TMZ for help with sleep and also jet lag which she tested positive for without fault or negligence in a time when Jannik Sinner also tested positive unknowingly meaning both World No.1's at one point at the top of the sport were seen as cheats.

Swiatek who is well known for being a role model and clean player had to wrangle with this and truth betold has not really recovered. She does not hold any titles outside of clay and defends over 4,000 points in the coming weeks.

She goes into Roland Garros for the first time soul searching over being the triumphant powerhouse at the top of the sport. Firstly she will aim to regain Stuttgart a title she lost last year to Elena Rybakina who won't return to defend it.

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A title that she has often won at a canter before also doing the same in Rome and Madrid. But the warning signs are there as despite having a new coach, her game off clay is still a question mark.

She is either imperious during tournaments or loses early but ultimately she will always lose late on in what is often a freak defeat. Eala for instance came off the back of wins over Elina Svitolina, Elise Mertens and Caroline Garcia.

A tie-break aside she barely struggled in any of these games. Eala is a young hungry 19-year-old making her way but is often the type of player that Swiatek eases through due to her experience and asserting herself as top dog.

Match Statistics Eala vs. Swiatek

Eala	VS	Swiatek
	Service
1	Aces	3
3	Double Faults	4
67% (44/66)	1st Service Percentage	64% (45/70)
52% (23/44)	1st Service Points Won	47% (21/45)
50% (11/22)	2nd Service Points Won	24% (6/25)
44% (4/9)	Break Points Saved	20% (2/10)
50% (5/10)	Service Games	20% (2/10)
	Return
53% (24/45)	1st Return Points Won	48% (21/44)
76% (19/25)	2nd Return Points Won	50% (11/22)
-	Break Points Saved	-
	Other
1h 39m	Match Duration	1h 39m

That wasn't there this time as Eala was the one dictating and she may go onto win the title but amid the excellence from Eala comes question marks about Iga. At Indian Wells perhaps didn't come as much of a shock as she was defeated by Mirra Andreeva.

Perhaps the most in-form player right now in the sport but even then she breezed through Zheng Qinwen, Karolina Muchova and Dayana Yastremska all with relative ease before that so there seems to be a sticking point in every tournament where it falls apart.

Dubai was similar as she dominated until she lost out to Mirra Andreeva. Qatar she lost to nemesis Jelena Ostapenko while Madison Keys accounted for her in Australia.

Mirra Andreeva pictured has caused Swiatek all sorts of problems recently but it was another upstart this time in Miami doing the damage.

But taking that run also in isolation, she defeated multiple players seen as rising stars. Rebecca Sramkova was one of the top players on the tour at the end of last season. While Eva Lys in the fourth round was the story of Melbourne in many ways. The plucky German waited around and got a last minute lucky loser spot that she catapulted into success.

She also thrashed Emma Raducanu and Emma Navarro, both aren't mugs but she lost only a handful of games in the whole tournament until Keys. Eala though was in the Lys and Sramkova mode of a player touted but not producing her ceiling as of yet so it will be serious panic stations now.

It is not out of the realms of possibility to say that Swiatek is going through the worst slump of her young career so far and ahead of the clay court season, how she gets out of that will be very intriguing. But similarly how she attacks her poorer surfaces of Wimbledon and the US Open run-up too as those like this week have not produced her best tennis for many a year.

Samuel GillEditor-in-Chief

Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of TennisUpToDate.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces across the TennisUpToDate network, playing a central role in the daily operation and development of the site.

Based in Leicester, Samuel has a broad background in tennis media. In his current role, he works closely with editors and writers to ensure coverage meets clear journalistic standards, with particular attention to verification, consistency, and timely updates when new information becomes available.

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