After Madrid loss, Iga Swiatek hopes to start 'moving better' to rebound from recent struggles

MADRID (AP) — Iga Swiatek's struggles continue.

Again unable to move well on the court, the five-time Grand Slam champion extended her streak of not reaching a final after a demoralizing 6-1, 6-1 loss to Coco Gauff in the semifinals of the Madrid Open on Thursday.

Swiatek hasn't gotten past the last-four in any tournament since winning the French Open—for the fourth time—last June. She hadn't won just two or fewer games in a match on any surface since 2019.

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"I feel like I haven't been moving well," Swiatek said. "The tennis also was like on and off, you know, for most of the tournament. So I wasn't really sure what I have in my tool box. I didn't even have a plan B because nothing was working today."

The second-ranked Swiatek said "everything kind of collapsed" because of her difficulties moving on the court.

"I feel like I wasn't even in the right place with my feet, you know, before the shots," she said. "Yeah, I wish I would have moved better, because I think that would get me an opportunity to bounce back, because this is usually what happens. But today for sure I didn't move well."

Swiatek lost six games in a row for the second straight day. She had recovered from losing the first set 0-6 to Madison Keys on Wednesday's quarterfinals. In her opening match in Madrid, Swiatek trailed teenager Alexandra Eala a set and a break before bouncing back.

"I didn't play well even on these matches that I won," Swiatek said. "I think I pushed kind of with my head, you know, for more than I even should, tennis-wise."

The last time Swiatek won only two or fewer games on any surface was a 6-0, 6-2 loss to Jelena Ostapenko in Birmingham in 2019.

The 23-year-old Pole said "hopefully one day it's going to click, but I'm not expecting anything, I'm just going to try to work" on trying to move better and give herself greater chances.

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"For sure I feel heavy, and you are like forcing everything instead of going by intuition and by itself, you know," she said. "Because I know how I can move, and usually I didn't have to think about it much. But for last weeks it hasn't been that easy. I've been like forcing myself to go lower, to be more precise with my feet, because it's not going by itself."

Swiatek said she didn't think her struggles moving were linked to a lack of self confidence.

"No, because I felt fine today," she said. "I'm not a different player than I was like for past years in terms of my attitude or my emotions."

Swiatek, a four-time French Open champion, has been nearly unbeatable on clay, according to the WTA. Only Steffi Graf (.750) has a higher win rate against Top 10 opponents than Swiatek (.700) in the previous 35 years.

Swiatek was the defending champion at the Madrid Open.