Iga Swiatek admitted her tank was empty during her Wimbledon loss to Yulia Putintseva and highlighted the “mistake” she made after a long season on clay.
The world number one looked set to book a place in the fourth round of the grass-court Grand Slam by winning the first set but then completely lost her rhythm as Putintseva cruised to a 6-3, 1-6, 2-6 victory.
The loss ended Swiatek’s 21-match winning streak, as she came into Wimbledon after a dominant clay-court campaign in which she won trophies at the Madrid Open, Italian Open and French Open.
Although Swiatek did not play any grass-court preparation tournaments before the tournament, she felt physically and mentally exhausted after a long clay-court swing.
“I wouldn’t say it was too many (matches) because obviously we need to be ready to compete at the highest level for many, many weeks,” the Pole said.
“I certainly didn’t feel like… I don’t know. Suddenly my energy tank to push myself to the max was empty. I was a little bit surprised. But I know what I did wrong after Roland Garros. I didn’t rest enough. I’m not going to make that mistake again.”
“After such a tough season on clay, I really need to recover. Maybe that’s also the reason. But I thought I could, I don’t know, play at the same level. I feel like on grass I need a little bit more of that energy to remain patient and accept some mistakes.
“Mentally, I didn’t do very well in this tournament. I need to recover better after the clay court season, both physically and mentally.”
Asked what she could have done differently, Swiatek admitted she needed to take a break from tennis.
“I literally went back to work, not in terms of tennis, but in terms of what happens off the court, and I shouldn’t have done that. Maybe next year I’ll take a vacation and literally do nothing,” she said.
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The five-time Grand Slam winner added: “Stuff off the court, my stuff. We plan the year that way so we don’t have to do too much before the Olympics.”
The Paris Games begin on July 27 and Swiatek is finally planning to take a well-deserved break before beginning her preparations for Roland Garros.
“I’m definitely going to take a lesson and rest a little bit more,” she said. “I don’t know, I feel like even though I didn’t perform well in this tournament, because of how the whole season looks, I deserve it. I should literally do better because I’m not going to be able to spend the whole season playing good tennis.
“I will focus on that and get back to working on clay.”
