Iga Swiatek 'surprised' by lack of rhythm in Dubai Tennis Championships final against Barbora Krejcikova, lauds Czech star for smart display

Iga Swiatek expressed her surprise at being unable to find any rhythm whatsoever and being outplayed by Barbora Krejcikova in the 2023 Dubai Tennis Championships final. Swiatek highlighted the challenge posed by Krejcikova, who dominated the final by not allowing the ever-dominant Swiatek to feel in control at any point during the match.

Krejcikova recorded a 6-4, 6-2 win over Swiatek, who had lost a mere 14 games combined in her last six completed matches ahead of Saturday's final. Krejcikova also became the only player to record back-to-back wins against Swiatek since December 2021.

The World No. 1 reflected on the match, stressing how different the challenge facing Krejcikova was for her in the Dubai final as compared to other opponents of late. She praised the Czech tennis star for playing the situation very smartly.

"I couldn't find the rhythm, it was a lot different than the last couple of rounds," Iga Swiatek said in a video interview posted by WTA Fans Show on YouTube.

"I don't know if that's my fault or Barbora made that situation, but for sure she used it and played pretty smart. So congrats to her for winning the title."

The three-time Grand Slam champion was quite surprised to experience a very different feeling on the court as opposed to her semi-final clash with Coco Gauff. Having said that, Swiatek vowed to analyze her loss in detail and understand it better so as to avoid such a situation going forward.

"From my side, I still need to analyze what I've done wrong, because it surprises me that there's such a difference in the feeling you get on court over a day, you know," Swiatek continued. "So for sure I'm going to focus on that and look at it from a different perspective to understand it more. Right now, it's hard for me to say what made the difference."

While she was highly disappointed at not being able to control the match and losing convincingly, Swiatek was satisfied with her overall campaign in Dubai. Already looking ahead to next year's edition, the Polish superstar wants to use the positive experience from the past week at the 2024 Dubai Tennis Championships.

"Today's match was disappointing because I didn't feel like I had much control," Iga Swiatek expressed.

"But I also want to remember what happened throughout the whole week and remember the feelings I had here as it was the first year basically where I felt comfortable while playing here. I'm going to use the experience next year for sure."

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"It's nice that we can motivate and push each other" - Iga Swiatek on Barbora Krejcikova's kind words for her

Barbora Krejcikova and Iga Swiatek greet each other after their 2023 Dubai Tennis Championships final.

Barbora Krejcikova reserved words of high praise for Iga Swiatek during her on-court victory speech and again in her post-match conference, saying that she has immense respect for the World No. 1. Reacting to the praise from her opponent, Swiatek returned the favor, before expressing her happiness at the fact that she and Krejcikova are inspiring each other to keep improving.

"Barbora is a great player and great person as well, so I'm pretty happy that she's saying such nice things," Iga Swiatek said on the same. "It's nice that we can motivate and push each other, because its important to get better and better."

Swiatek will need to quickly turn her focus towards the next task at hand, which is a rather big one, as she will soon defend the 'Sunshine Double.' The Pole completed the double last season by winning the Indian Wells Open and Miami Open, which was the start of her dominance on tour in 2022.

Iga Swiatek remains the favorite to win the 'Sunshine Double' once again.