"It was hard to accept it": Iga Swiatek opens up about 'heartbreaking' Australian Open semifinal defeat to Madison Keys

Poland’s Iga Swiatek has admitted that the defeat in the semifinal of the Australian Open was a very ‘heartbreaking’ one. The reigning world number two suffered a defeat in the last four contests during the first Grand Slam of the year to America’s Madison Keys with a score of 5-7, 6-1, 7-6.

With that defeat, Swiatek is still looking for a place in the final of the Australian Open despite playing the competition six times. It seemed that defeat took its toll on the four-time Grand Slam winner, who suffered some untimely exits afterwards. She lost in the semifinal of the Qatar Open to Latvia’s Jeļena Ostapenko in straight sets with a score of 6-3, 6-1. After that, she suffered a defeat in the quarterfinal of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship 2025 to Russia’s young sensation Mirra Andreeva in straight sets with a score of 6-3, 6-3.

Swiatek is currently taking part in the Indian Wells Masters, where she booked herself a spot in the round of 32 after beating France’s Caroline Garcia in straight sets with a score of 6-2, 6-0. The Warsaw-born star spoke to the Tennis Channel, and she talked in detail about how she felt after losing in the semifinal of the Australian Open. Swiatek admitted that defeat was ‘pretty heartbreaking’, largely because she had never lost a match from a match point before. However, the 23-year-old stated that she was very satisfied with her performance in the tournament and also identified that she is now looking to stay ‘humble’, admitted that other players are putting in the hard work and improving their game to compete against the best in business.

“Yea for sure, the Australian Open semifinal loss was pretty heartbreaking because I never lost a match from a match point,” said Swiatek. “But Madi totally deserved it. She went for the shorts. She was more brave I would say at the important moments. I thought about it for a couple of days for sure. It was hard to accept it. But I also saw how tight the final was. The level was super high of the whole tournament and I was happy you know that I could play such a solid way until the semifinal. Still I appreciated the result anyway, and one win away from the final is a really nice achievement. I just want to stay humble and also remember that other girls are also working pretty hard and changing their games.”