Iga Swiatek rues wanting Australian Open title 'too hard' after early exit against Elena Rybakina, vows to chill out in future

Iga Swiatek believes a crucial change in her mindset affected her chances at the 2023 Australian Open, eventually leading to a fourth-round exit on Sunday at the hands of reigning Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina. Swiatek feels her approach to the Melbourne Grand Slam and wanting it "a little bit too hard" was indeed a step back from her highly successful approach throughout a historic 2022 season.

Swiatek lost 4-6, 4-6 to Rybakina in a clash between two Grand Slam champions and often seemed outmanuvered by Rybakina's power-packed style of play. Despite taking an early 3-0 lead in the second set, the World No. 1 was unable to capitalize and lost six of the next seven games, which was quite uncharacteristic.

The Polish tennis superstar believes her defeat had more to do with her own approach and mindset than it had to with her lacking the game to beat Rybakina. Swiatek explained the difference between her approach at the 2023 Australian Open as compared to most of the 2022 season, admitting that the past two weeks have been "pretty hard" on her. She felt a lack of fighting spirit in the match against Rybakina.

"Well, for sure past two weeks have been pretty hard for me," Iga Swiatek said in a press conference after Sunday's defeat to Rybakina.

"So I felt today that I don't have that much to, like, to take from myself to fight even more. So I really want to, I don't know, just -- I felt like I took a step back in terms of how I approach these tournaments, and I maybe wanted it a little bit too hard."

Already looking at the road ahead, the three-time Grand Slam champion is certain that she wants to "chill" a bit more and approach tournaments with a more relaxed state of mind.

"So I'm going to try to chill out a little bit more. That's all," the 21-year-old added.

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Iga Swiatek reveals point of focus over next few weeks after Australian Open 2023 exit

Iga Swiatek in action at the 2023 Australian Open

Iga Swiatek declared that she felt a great deal of pressure throughout her Australian Open campaign. Digging deeper into her thought process, the World No. 1 highlighted the difference between 'wanting to win' as opposed to 'not wanting to lose.' Experiencing the latter of those two emotions was detrimental to her chances of winning the title, Swiatek concluded.

Having said that, the Polish player said that she will work on that aspect of her mindset over the next couple of weeks.

"Well, I felt the pressure, and I felt that I don't want to lose instead of I want to win," Iga Swiatek explained. "So that's, I think, a base of what I should focus on in next couple of weeks."

Swiatek will drop ranking points at the end of the 2023 Australian Open, given that she was a semifinalist at the Melbourne Slam last year. However, she has no reason to worry about losing the World No. 1 spot as she is currently enjoying a massive lead over World No. 2 Ons Jabeur at the top of the rankings.

While she did not confirm her schedule going forward, Swiatek's next tournament will likely either be the Qatar Open in mid-February or the WTA 1000 Dubai Duty Free Championships later next month.