"I'm angry but there aren't many players that survive these kinds of tournaments" – Iga Swiatek on upset loss to Anna Kalinskaya in Dubai SF

Iga Swiatek recently exited the Dubai Tennis Championships after a shock loss to Russia's Anna Kalinskaya in the semifinals on Friday, February 23.

Kalinskaya's win meant every seeded participant has now exited the WTA 1000 event. She will play Italy's Jasmine Paolini in the final, who downed Sorana Cirstea in her semifinal battle on Friday at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Centre.

Swiatek, who fell one step short of matching her previous year's performance in Dubai, talked to the media. At one point in the press conference, the top seed stated that while she felt enraged, she intends to move on quickly.

"I mean I'm angry but on the other hand, there aren't many players that actually survive these kinds of tournaments so I just kind of have to let it go and accept it," Iga Swiatek said.

The Pole continued:

"Today I would say, I mean she [Anna Kalinskaya] played well and for sure she deserves to be in the final, but I feel like it was more about me and my level. I wanted to be focused on myself and I wasn’t really able to implement any tactics that I had."

Swiatek had a decent start to the match as she held her serve comfortably in the first five games and broke Kalinskaya in the sixth. However, she seemingly lost the plot in the seventh game as the Russian broke her on-love to level the equations.

Kalinskaya then doubled down and won the next three games to secure the opening set. Furthermore, Swiatek was under the pump in the second set straightaway as she lost the first game on her serve.

The Pole hit another bump when Kalinskaya broke her again in the second set and took a 5-2 lead. The top seed then desperately saved two match points and delayed her opponent's victory by securing the eighth game.

It was, however, too little too late from Iga Swiatek as the next two games remained on serve and Anna Kalinskaya clinched a 6-4, 6-4 win.

---

Iga Swiatek: "I was so out of power and tired... Day by day, it was a little bit worse"

Iga Swiatek out of the 2024 Dubai Open

During the press conference, Iga Swiatek admitted to feeling exhausted in the semifinal match against Anna Kalinskaya and that she lost energy with each passing day.

"Usually, when I tell myself what to do, I can improve my game but today I was so out of power and tired that I just couldn't. Day by day, it was a little bit worse. I was talking to you about it because it didn't really make sense to go over it," the World No. 1 said.

Iga Swiatek continued:

"I would say the preparation was the best I could do anyway but I wasn’t able to make anything that made sense today on the court. Maybe I did in the first six games."

Anna Kalinskaya will now have the chance to win her first-ever singles title on the tour when she faces Jasmine Paolini in the final on Saturday (February 24).