Iga Swiatek's title defense being ended by Danielle Collins in the third round of the 2025 Italian Open has sparked concern among tennis fans. The Pole will drop down from being World No. 2 in the WTA rankings as a result of her early exit.
Swiatek entered the Italian Open as the second, hoping to turn fortunes in her favor at the final WTA 1000 before her highly anticipated title defense at the French Open. Though she hasn't been in the best form, the Pole was consistently making it to the latter stages of tournaments, but only failing to convert them into title triumphs.
She kicked off her campaign by completely crushing Elisabette Cocciaretto 6-1, 6-0, setting up a clash with Danielle Collins, with whom she has had some controversial moments in the past. Coming into the clash with a massive 7-1 lead in the rivalry, many expected the former World No. 1 to get the job done comfortably; however, in a shocking turn of events, Collins stunned Swiatek 6-1, 7-5.
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Fans expressed their concern on X (formerly Twitter) and asked Iga Swiatek to make some tough changes to her team, which includes coach Wim Fissette, psychologist Daria Abramowicz, and others. One fan was extremely disappointed with the Pole's performance.
"Of all these players he has to be her. Iga something needs to change because it’s not possible to play like that Danielle Collins," the fan wrote.
Another fan added,
"Pretty embarassing go fire your team iga, they're not doing their job", a fan commented.
Here are some other reactions from concerned fans.
"the way iga is going to enter RG like 38 year old nadal, powered by the very slight sliver of hope that past greatness will carry her through," a fan mentioned.
"The way she really dropped to 4ga," a fan wwas disappointed.
"I’m convinced someone doing witchcraft on Iga fr," a fan quipped.
"Wim if Iga doesn’t win RG," a fan posted a hilarious meme.
"Name Fi$$ette’s titles since winning his last with qinwen and dumping her after," a fan questioned.
"Daria using the shit she got off Chat GPT in her therapy sessions with Iga," a fan said.
Collins also had her say on how she clinched the significant win.
Danielle Collins opens up about what helped her win against Iga Swiatek at the Italian Open 2025
During her on-court interview, Danielle Collins opened up about her thoughts on what helped her get past Iga Swiatek in their blockbuster encounter at the Italian Open. She mentioned how she had suffered many close defeats to the Pole in the past, which actually ended up helping her in this match.
“I played Iga so many times. The winning favor is in her favor. When you play that many close matches and play some of your best tennis but lose, you learn a lot. I feel like I applied that today.”
Iga Swiatek will head to the French Open outside of the Top 3 of the WTA for the first time in three years. She could potentially drop down to World No. 5 if Jasmine Paolini ends up triumphing at the Italian Open.
