By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Thursday March 9, 2023
Losing can be heartbreaking – but it can also be a lesson.
That’s the point of view of World No.1 Iga Swiatek, who talked about the value of losses during her pre-tournament media conference on Wednesday at the BNP Paribas Open.
“For sure I always analyze more matches that I lost, to see what I should change or why my performance was a little bit worse,” she said.
Swiatek said that her loss to Elena Rybakina in the round of 16 at the Australian Open was a motivator.
“Yes, after Australia for sure I felt like these losses kind of motivated me to work harder, so I think it’s pretty valuable; for sure it’s going to be like one day I’m going to be more disappointed and the other day it’s going to give me more motivation, but I think sometimes it’s also important to remember that you can lose, actually, and there are other players who are also playing great tennis.
“Because I think that last season spoiled me a little bit.”
The Polish juggernaut says that ever loss gives her a different file to open up and analyze with her team. Sometimes she makes technical realizations, sometimes tactical. Always, it’s something.
“From every match I can take different stuff because sometimes you make a technical mistake and it’s pretty easy then, because you go and you work on that and it’s getting better usually. Sometimes it’s tactical, so it depends, but it’s always about analyzing and about approaching another tournament with the knowledge that you gained.
“For example, after Australia I knew technically what I had to change and my coach also knew that so we really worked in a physical way on court for a couple of hours a day to make it better. But I think in Dubai it was more tactical, so from every defeat I can take a lot and I’m using that knowledge for sure.”
Swiatek will begin her Indian Wells title defense on Saturday in the California Desert. The 21-year-old is bidding to become the first woman to complete a successful title defense at Indian Wells since Martina Navratilova in 1991 – she will face either Claire Liu or Anna Karolina Schmeidlova in second-round action.