"I didn't feel like anything was working" - Iga Swiatek on disappointing loss to Emma Navarro at China Open
WTA
Tennis star Iga Swiatek suffered a surprising loss to American Emma Navarro in the fourth round of the 2025 China Open, and the former World No.1 later admitted to being nervous during the encounter.
Swiatek held a 2-0 lead over Navarro in career meetings, with their last clash coming at this year's Australian Open. The American could only salvage three games against Swiatek during that quarterfinal encounter, and fans expected a similar result in Beijing.
The Polish star had been on a tear in Beijing. Swiatek had cruised through the two previous rounds, recording a bagel in each one as she continued her campaign to reclaim the title she won in 2023.
However, the outcome was different on Wednesday. Navarro would play some impressive tennis to claim the first set, with Swiatek battling back to level the match at one set apiece. A shocking third set saw Navarro bagel the World No.2, advancing to the quarterfinals behind a 6-4 4-6 6-0 victory.
Nerves played a part in her loss, says Swiatek
The top seed reflected on her loss in her post-match conference. Swiatek admitted to not playing her best tennis, and added she made several mistakes that led came about due to her poor play.
"I'm not injured," began Swiatek. "I just played bad today. I managed to, like, work on it in the second set. Then in third, probably the mistakes I did from the beginning of the match kind of came back. Yeah, like, I didn't really, I don't know, fix the shots that I played wrong or something. I kind of knew what I'm doing wrong. I don't know, I was stuck in doing it wrong rather than actually solving it.
"So yeah, for sure I was a bit more nervous because of that and maybe too much emotions, as well. I will try to, like, keep it more cool next time so I have more space in my head to problem solve. Honestly, I didn't feel like anything was working. That's why I got more and more, like, nervous."
"So yeah, for sure I was a bit more nervous because of that and maybe too much emotions, as well. I will try to, like, keep it more cool next time so I have more space in my head to problem solve. Honestly, I didn't feel like anything was working. That's why I got more and more, like, nervous."
Navarro advances to the elite eight to face compatriot Jessica Pegula. Meanwhile, Swiatek will have a few days to prepare for the upcoming Wuhan Open.
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