John McEnroe has questioned what comes next for Iga Swiatek after what he described as her ‘inexplicable’ defeat at the US Open.
Former world No 1 Swiatek has lived through a curious two years of highs and lows, with last year’s 6-0, 6-0 win against Amanda Anisimova in the Wimbledon final mixed with plenty of unexpected setbacks.
The latest low moment came at the US Open, as Swiatek stormed into a 5-0 first set lead against China’s Zheng Qinwen, before she lost 7-5, 6-3.
Swiatek was in tears as she left the court after her alarming collapse, with tennis legend McEnroe struggling to explain how she allowed a dominant position to slip away.
“It’s inexplicable what happened with Swiatek,” said McEnroe in his role as a Eurosport analyst.
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“First of all, I give Zhang a lot of credit. She’s been through a lot of struggles, but she’s an ex-world No 4, so she’s not a slouch. She’s a great player.
“The surprise is that Iga lost from 5-0. You can’t lose from that point. So I don’t know what happened. It was shocking.
“I’m not sure she knows. Maybe you get a little careless. The other girl swings freely because they have nothing to lose. It gets a little closer.
“There’s no way she should have lost that first set. I think losing that set, like, you know, that blows your mind in a way. Like, whoever you are, if you blow a set like that, it’s hard to come back.
“It’s what you love about sport and what you hate about it, I guess. You never know for sure, but at the key moments, if you lose your belief and confidence, whoever you are, your level’s gonna drop. And it seems like ultimately, at least in this mess, that’s what happens.”
Swiatek’s relationship with coach Francisco Roig was questioned after Swiatek’s defeat, but McEnroe believes this defeat was down to the player and not her team.
“He’s a respected coach and I think he wants her to play the way she did when she won all the French Open titles,” he added.
“For me, I don’t think that you keep changing coaches is the best thing for anyone, really. So in my opinion, give it time and make sure that this is something she wants.
“I don’t even know what she’s thinking right now, but the coaching was not the problem in this particular case. I think they were on the right track, actually.
“She was playing more like the way you’d expect her in Canada and Cincinnati. I thought she would be difficult to beat at the US Open.
“I still think she will win majors, but there are more questions than answers right now after the way she lost from 5-0 up.”
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