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Kim Clijsters recently gave her thoughts on Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka's respective defeats in the business end of big tournaments in 2025. The former World No. 1 believes that while the Belarusian had become too content with getting her revenge on Madison Keys for her Australian Open final defeat in the Indian Wells semifinals, the Pole is putting too much pressure on herself to win titles at the moment.
Andy Roddick recently invited four-time Major winner Kim Clijsters on his "Served with Andy Roddick" podcast to give her thoughts on Sabalenka and Swiatek - both of whom have failed to win a big title in 2025 despite being the top-2 ranked players on the WTA Tour.
"Sabalenka has lost two big finals for the first time in a long time, right? Iga, same with semifinals, where they're playing well but then... Cause for concern or no?" Andy Roddick asked Kim Clijsters on his podcast (36:13).
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In response, the Belgian illustrated the distinct nature of Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek's respective approaches to big matches. The 41-year-old did emphasize a worrisome trend for the Pole, who surrendered the World No. 1 position to the Belarusian last year.
According to Clijsters' first-hand account of watching the World No. 2 in the players' area at this year's BNP Paribas Open, the latter showed signs of "tension" even when wasn't competing on-court.
"I think it's all on like, the focus that you put on it I think, there's a big difference between the two. If you see Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek, I feel like with Iga, every tournament is like, 'Okay, I have to win this,' I feel like with Sabalenka, she believes beating Madison in the semis, she felt like she was able to take revenge a little bit," Kim Clijsters told Andy Roddick (36:48). "But with Iga, I feel like it's such a must and you feel it in her intention.
"When she's walking out there and seeing her in Indian Wells players' area, there's like a tension that is very, very... not even going to say its tight, there's not a lot of room for anything else than tennis."
Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek lost in shocking fashion to Mirra Andreeva at Indian Wells
Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek each suffered shocking ends to their respective campaigns at last week's BNP Paribas Open. Sabalenka trounced her Australian Open title-match victor Madison Keys in the semifinals of the WTA 1000 tournament but wasted a set lead to lose the final to ninth-seeded Mirra Andreeva.
Swiatek, on the other hand, was emotionally all over the place in her semifinal and quarterfinal losses at the Qatar Open and the Dubai Tennis Championships, respectively. The five-time Major winner then reached the last four in Indian Wells without dropping a set. However, she lost to eventual winner Andreeva in three sets in what was yet another emotionally turbulent display from her.
