Iga Swiatek says Italian Open injury is not "serious" but retirement was "right decision"

Iga Swiatek has maintained that she made the right call regarding her 2023 Italian Open quarterfinals retirement against Elena Rybakina, although her injury is not concerning.

On Wednesday, May 17, Swiatek and Rybakina locked horns in a late-night thriller in Rome. Swiatek took a convincing lead over Rybakina, clinching the opener 6-2. The second set concluded in the Wimbledon champion’s favor in the tiebreak 7-6 (3).

During the tiebreak, however, Swiatek seemed to experience some discomfort in her right thigh as she sprinted to chase her opponent’s smash winner. The World No. 1 was unable to move freely thereafter and decided to retire at 2-2 in the third set.

In her press conference the following day, the Pole shed some light on the extent of her injury saying:

“During the second set, at the end in the tiebreaker, I felt pain in my right thigh. It was, like, pretty sudden. At the beginning I didn't really know if it was serious or not.”

The defending champion stated that retirement was the right decision, although an examination by the physio afterwards suggested that the injury isn’t concerning and she will be able to compete soon.

“I feel tired. It was the right decision to stop playing because I felt pain when I was stretching, when I did harder movements .We did an examination with the physio afterwards. It shouldn't be anything serious, so I'm pretty positive that I'll be back soon,” Swiatek said.

The 21-year-old blamed her lack of recovery on the tight schedule.

“Since Stuttgart I wasn't really able to recover with that tight schedule that we have on WTA,” she added.

The three-time Grand Slam champion conveyed that her main aim behind the retirement was not to overwork her body after being made to contest numerous late-night matches.

“For me, the most important thing is to kind of play it safe and not exploit my body so much in such difficult conditions, after having to play few matches in night session and after midnight,” she explained.

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"I need to recover right now" - Iga Swiatek looks forward to 2023 French Open

Iga Swiatek is the French Open defending champion

Iga Swiatek will commence her 2023 French Open title defense in a little more than one week, and she is happy to get a few extra days to recuperate after her premature exit at the Italian Open, where she was the defending champion.

“To be ready for Roland Garros, I need to recover right now. I'm going to take couple of days off. With my quarterfinal loss, I have also time to then practice right before the tournament. I'm happy right now to have few days off,” she said in the presser.

Swiatek will be gunning for a third French Open title and her fourth Grand Slam trophy at this year’s event in Paris. She will be hoping to successfully defend her title in order to keep her World No. 1 status intact, as World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka inches closer to toppling her.