Iga Swiatek set to drop out of top two in WTA rankings as disastrous form against top 10 players continues

It is concerning times for Iga Swiatek, who is set to drop out of the top two in the world in a similar shade to what happened last year. Her form has not been at her absolute best in recent months, and it is showing with her having failed to win any of her last five matches against top 10 players.

After losing to Danielle Collins in the third round of the 2025 Italian Open, Swiatek was bumped down to third in the rankings. It was the first time she had dropped out of the top two for three years, having also accumulated 125 weeks as world number one.

Her reign of terror seemed to have ended, with her even going into Wimbledon as the eighth seed. She would showcase her brilliance on a surface where she has not produced her best stuff in the past, excelling on the grass courts at SW19 to win a maiden Wimbledon title. She backed this up with the Cincinnati Open title, and after the US Open, she was back in the top two in the world.

Normality restored - at least for a bit. An early exit in the WTA Finals was the second consecutive year in which she failed to make it out of the round robin phase. She would begin the year by winning the United Cup for Poland, but some damaging results resulted in her fellow Pole, Hubert Hurkacz, digging her out of a few holes. The Australian Open saw her receive a nasty reality check against the eventual champion, Elena Rybakina. The Kazakh won eight of the final nine games to send the 24-year-old out at the quarterfinal stage with a whimper, annihilating any chance of completing the career Grand Slam.

A significant record would then fall at the Qatar Open. Swiatek has never lost a WTA 1000 match when taking the first set. 109 consecutive matches she won when going one set to the good, but that was disrupted against a resurgent Maria Sakkari, who took her down in the quarterfinal of the Qatar Open.

Excluding the United Cup, Swiatek has yet to reach a semi-final in any tournament. Another last-eight defeat at Indian Wells showcases the position she is currently enduring, this time losing in three sets to Elina Svitolina. With Rybakina's run to the semi-final and possibly beyond, this has confirmed the two-time Grand Slam champion to make her debut in the top two ahead of the Miami Open. She has the chance to extend her lead over the Pole with a semi-final encounter against Svitolina.

A large factor in her recent decline is that she is unable to defeat the best players in the world. PReviously she would complete this task for fun, brushing aside some of the most talented players on the WTA Circuit as she went on to win the biggest titles.

This has not been the case in recent months. Her last five matches against top 10 players have resulted in defeats. This was kicked off at the WTA Finals when Rybakina hugely dented her chances of qualifying for the knockout stage with a 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 win. In her next match, Amanda Anisimova made sure that she was not making it through, coming out on top in a 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-2 victory.

Into 2026, a first loss came against Coco Gauff. It is now four defeats in a row against the American, with her representing her country on the big stage with a 6-4, 6-2 win at the United Cup. Swiatek also lost to Belinda Bencic in the final, but she is not on this list, being ranked just outside the top 10 at the time. The quarterfinal defeat to Rybakina was next on the list at the Australian Open, going down 7-5, 6-1. Most recently, Svitolina's 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 win at Indian Wells has sparked more concern for the former world number one about when she will get to her absolute best again.