“I felt a lot of bitterness” – Iga Swiatek gets brutally honest about getting used to life as a non-World No. 1

Iga Swiatek, now ranked world No. 8, opened up about the emotional toll of losing her No. 1 WTA ranking to Aryna Sabalenka, admitting to feeling “a lot of bitterness” after her Australian Open third-round exit to Madison Keys in February 2025, per Pro Football Network. Speaking to Polish outlet Sport, the 23-year-old Pole, who held the top spot for 125 weeks across two spells, said, “When I came back in February after the Australian Open, I actually had a moment when I felt a lot of bitterness about how I lost that ranking. But then I focused on work,” per. Swiatek, who dropped out of the top two for the first time in three years after a third-round loss in Rome, emphasized that rankings aren’t her daily focus, stating, “It’s not like I think about it every day. Even when I was the leader, I always said that I didn’t look at the rankings,” per Tennis365.

Her 2025 season, marked by a 24-10 record and no titles since the 2024 French Open, reflects struggles on clay, where she lost in Rome and Roland Garros to Sabalenka, per WTA Tennis. Swiatek’s challenges were compounded by a doping suspension in 2024 for trimetazidine, causing her to miss three events and lose her No. 1 ranking, per The Athletic. She described the ordeal as devastating, noting, “Six months ago, I felt my career was hanging by a thread, spent three weeks crying daily,” in a March Instagram post addressing criticism over her on-court behavior, per ESPN. Despite this, Swiatek rejected a break from tennis, telling Sport.pl, “I don’t feel the need to take a break. I prefer to be in rhythm and build my process,” per Tennis365. Posts on X, like @FS_Tennis1, highlighted her focus on rebuilding, per.