"I just played bad... I didn't feel anything was working" - Iga Swiatek makes brutal assessment after China Open exit spoils World No. 1 fight

Iga Swiatek faced a shock loss at the China Open on Wednesday, going out to Emma Navarro in the Round of 16. The No. 1 seed at the WTA 1000 tournament, the Pole lost 4-6, 6-4, 6-0, making 70 unforced errors along the way.

A title run in Beijing would have taken Swiatek closer to Aryna Sabalenka in the WTA rankings, but after the loss, she is now nearly 2,500 points away from the World No. 1. The loss all but makes sure Sabalenka will finish the year as the top-ranked woman, although it is not mathematically confirmed as of now.

Speaking to the press after the loss to Navarro, Swiatek admitted that she was playing 'bad' today and that the mistakes got away from her even though she tried her best to problem solve along the way.

The six-time Grand Slam champion also revealed that she felt nervous in the third set as the errors piled on from her racket, at the same time hoping that it remains a one-off issue.

"I'm not injured. I just played bad today. I managed to, like, work on it in the second set. Then in third, probably the mistakes I did from the beginning of the match kind of came back. Yeah, like, I didn't really, I don't know, fix the shots that I played wrong or something. I kind of knew what I'm doing wrong. I don't know, I was stuck in doing it wrong rather than actually solving it," Iga Swiatek said.

"So yeah, for sure I was a bit more nervous because of that and maybe too much emotions, as well. I will try to, like, keep it more cool next time so I have more space in my head to problem solve. Honestly, I didn't feel like anything was working. That's why I got more and more, like, nervous," she added.

Emma Navarro will now take on Jessica Pegula in all-American quarterfinal on Friday.

Iga Swiatek will be in action next at the Wuhan Open after China Open exit

2025 China Open - Day 10 (ATP Finals) - Source: Getty

Following her exit from the China Open, Iga Swiatek will be in action next at the WTA 1000 Wuhan Open, where Aryna Sabalenka is the defending champion. At the press conference, Swiatek admitted that she needs to change some things in her game before then.

Most importantly, the World No. 2 was just happy to visit a new city for a tournament, and hoped that she could enjoy her time in Wuhan.

"There are some specific things that I think I can improve on the court. I'll just try to do that in the next days. I've never been there. I have no idea even how the site looks like and how the courts are. It's I think nice to just see a new place," Iga Swiatek said.

"For sure it's good that the tournament is shorter 'cause no matter if you win, no matter if you lose, you can just get on with it and do your job, that's it, finish it a little bit earlier, just be in some kind of a rhythm. Yeah, I'll just do my best, try to work on this stuff right now on the practice court and be ready for first match," she added.

Swiatek has three titles to her name in 2025 -- Wimbledon, the Cincinnati Open, and most recently, the Korea Open.