She was the top seed. But that might be her biggest problem as well. At least that is what one could feel from Iga Swiatek’s words after she was upset by Jessica Pegula in the women’s singles quarter-finals of the US Open.

"I feel like when I have high expectations, I never perform well," Swiatek said after her 2-6, 4-6 defeat to the No. 6 seed. ‘’(But) it’s hard to have low expectations when everybody is expecting something from you.’’

The 23-year-old won the title at the Flushing Meadows in 2022. But she now says that she wasn’t comfortable at the year’s last grand slam at that time too.

“(It) was the grand slam that I was least chilled at,” said the 23-year-old about her 2022 title run in New York. “Even though I won, I didn’t feel comfortable on the court at all. I didn’t feel like I could play my game naturally.”

Her expectations from herself in New York this year were even lower after a season she characterised as “intense” (and not in a good way). In her post-match media conference, a subdued Swiatek said she struggles with high expectations.

Her goals in this tournament were entirely her own.

“Everyone’s always speaking about results,” Swiatek said about the questions she tends to be asked. But “these are not my goals,” she explained. “I’m more expecting that I’m going to work.”

No solution

Swiatek said she was unable to find a solution to issues that plagued her serve on
Wednesday.

Swiatek was unable to properly calibrate her first serves early, putting just 2 of 12 — 16.7 per cent — in play at the start, only 36 per cent for the opening set. Overall, she won just over half of her first serve points and faced eight break points in the match at Arthur Ashe Stadium. She also had 41 unforced errors.

“When I (was) losing 4-0 in the first set, I tried to do the same kind of work as usual.

“I didn’t really understand why my serve wasn’t working. It was hard for me to find, like, a proper solution for that.”

The five-time Grand Slam winner said Pegula was a worthy winner.

“She has a tricky ball because it’s pretty low and pretty flat ... she was for sure more solid than me and making much less mistakes. So because of that, she was kind of putting pressure with that,” added the Pole. “But usually I’m able to push it back or put pressure on myself, but today I just made too many mistakes.”

Road ahead

Despite misgivings for the rigours of the WTA calendar, Swiatek isn’t planning a long break in advance of the 2024 off-season.

Swiatek won her third straight French Open in June before taking bronze in the Paris Olympics last month.

“I don’t want to take a break,” said the world No. 1. “It’s tough. It could be a little bit easier, but I’m keeping up with the schedule. I’m only talking about mandatory tournaments and there are rules about mandatory tournaments.

“But I’m ready for playing till November, I guess, unless I’m going to get injured.”

With inputs from Reuters