Iga Swiatek loses in first match at WTA Tour event for the first time in 74 tournaments - ‘Tennis feels complicated in my head’

For the first time in 74 WTA Tour tournaments, Iga Swiatek lost her opening match. The 24-year-old was defeated in three sets by her compatriot Madga Linette in the second round of the Miami Open. Swiatek had won her opening-round match at her previous 73 events on the WTA Tour, a run which dated back to the 2021 WTA Finals. Linette, the world No. 50, will face Alexandra Eala in the third round.

Iga Swiatek lost her opening match at a WTA Tour event for the first time in 74 tournaments on Thursday as she fell in three sets to Magda Linette at the Miami Open.

In what was an all-Polish affair, Linette came from a set down to prevail 1-6 7-5 6-3 in the second round at Miami Gardens, Florida, after Swiatek had received a first-round bye due to her world rankings.

No. 2 seed Swiatek had won her opening-round match at her previous 73 events on the WTA Tour, a run which dates back to the 2021 WTA Finals.

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”I think I am a bit confused. There’s no way but forward,” the 24-year-old told reporters afterwards, per the Tennis Channel. ”I’m going to try to work hard to get back to that. I have it in me, I just lost it for a second, the game.

”Tennis feels complicated in my head. I know it’s supposed to be simple. In terms of my mentality and how I feel on the court, it’s going to take a while.”

Swiatek, who lost to Elina Svitolina in the quarter-finals of Indian Wells last week, looked comfortable in the first set, breaking her compatriot twice and winning 88% of her first-serve points.

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Video credit: SNTV

But in the second, Linette claimed a crucial break and held onto her lead with the help of four aces.

The 34-year-old then raced into a 5-2 lead into the decisive third set and although Swiatek saved two match points to reduce the deficit to 5-3, Linette closed out a famous victory on her fourth match point.

"I stopped doing anything well tactically," Swiatek said of her performance after winning the first set. "It just was a bad match for me in the second and third sets. Unconsciously, or consciously, it's hard for me to say. I need to work to get back from that, because I haven't felt things like that for like five years.

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"I'll just get back to work and try to get something positive out of the practices ... and try to figure it out."

Linette became just the second player to beat Swiatek at a WTA 1000 tournament after dropping the first set after Maria Sakkari did it earlier in the season in Doha.

Linette, the world No. 50, will face Alexandra Eala in the third round. Eala also came from a set down to beat Germany's Laura Siegemund in the second round.

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