"Like Rafael Nadal at his prime not winning gold medal at Roland Garros" - Serena Williams' ex-coach on Iga Swiatek missing out on Paris Olympics gold

Serena Williams' former coach, Rennae Stubbs, recently shared her thoughts on Iga Swiatek missing out on the gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Stubbs compared the Pole losing out on the gold to that of Rafael Nadal in his prime, losing at Roland Garros, the venue where the tennis matches of the Olympic Games were played.

Swiatek was the top seed at the Paris Olympics. She defeated Irina-Camelia Begu and Diane Perry in the first and second rounds, respectively. She overcame Wang Xinyu in the third round and Danielle Collins in the quarterfinals to secure a spot in the semifinals.

Despite being the gold-medal favorite due to her impressive record on clay courts and at Roland Garros, Swiatek suffered a surprising 2-6, 5-7 loss to Zheng Qinwen in the semifinals. However, she redeemed herself by winning the bronze medal against Slovakia's Anna Karolina Schmiedlova.

During a recent episode of "The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast," Stubbs discussed Zheng Qinwen's gold medal win. She attributed the gold win to the Chinese's third-round opponent Emma Navarro's strong comments about her which she made after their match. Stubbs then praised Zheng for defeating Swiatek on her favorite surface and winning the gold medal.

“She [Emma Navarro] spurred on Qinwen to go and win a gold medal which was phenomenal. I mean going through and winning the gold medal, beating Iga Swiatek – we didn’t think was possible to actually beat someone like Iga where we play the French Open, where she’s undefeated over the last three years and she’s won the tournament four times there. So that was a spectacular win for her,” Stubbs said [11:06].

Rennae Stubbs also likened Iga Swiatek losing the gold medal to Rafael Nadal not winning at Roland Garros in his prime.

“But there was also a lot of pressure on Iga Swiatek to win the gold there. I mean that was like Rafa at his prime not winning a gold medal at Roland Garros, if they had the Olympics singles. So that was a bit of a shock but congrats to her and to get through and not only beat Iga but then to follow it up in the final against Donna Vekic who also had an amazing month of tennis for her – semis at Wimbledon, finals at the Olympics,” she added [11:32].

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Iga Swiatek on losing out on the gold medal at Paris Olympics 2024 - “I had put on a very heavy backpack, was playing for many people”

Iga Swiatek [Source: Getty]

While speaking about losing out on the gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Iga Swiatek attributed her loss to the burden of carrying the "heavy backpack" of expectations from many people to the Games.

Swiatek explained that the pressure of these expectations had hindered her ability to perform at her best. She expressed that she was able to secure the bronze medal by letting go of these expectations and focusing solely on playing for herself, a shift in mindset which ultimately enabled her to win.

“I realised that I had put on a very heavy backpack. The thought that I was playing for so many people added pressure that prevented me from playing my best tennis. I thought I had to play for myself and that’s how I faced the bronze match in a better way,” Swiatek said (via CLAY).

Following her Olympics campaign, Iga Swiatek competed at the 2024 Cincinnati Open. She reached the semifinals of the WTA 1000 hard court tournament before falling 3-6, 3-6 to Aryna Sabalenka.