Iga Swiatek's grandfather died before Madrid Open, says tennis insider

A tennis insider recently wrote about Novak Djokovic and Iga Swiatek's unconvincing displays at the 2025 Madrid Open. According to the insider, both Djokovic and Swiatek's respective personal situations were "complicated" during their time in the Spanish capital for the combined ATP Masters 1000 and WTA 1000 event.

The Serb was stunned in his opening match in Madrid by Matteo Arnaldi. The result marked his third consecutive ATP Tour-level loss. He later withdrew from this year's Italian Open without citing any specific reason. Meanwhile, Swiatek reached the women's singles semifinal, but here, she fell to a shocking 1-6, 1-6 defeat at the hands of a rampant Coco Gauff.

On Thursday, May 1, French tennis journalist and insider Benoit Maylin took to X (formerly Twitter) and rather concerningly reported that Novak Djokovic and Iga Swiatek's uncharacteristically off-color displays in Madrid stemmed from difficult situations in their respective personal lives. As per Maylin, some of the Serb's friends have health issues and the Pole's grandfather passed away ahead of the Madrid Open.

"Before burying Djokovic and Swiatek after Novak's strange behavior and Iga's apparent nervousness, it should be noted that both are going through a complicated period. Several of Djoko's close friends have health problems, and Iga lost his grandfather just before the tournament," Maylin wrote. (translated from French)

Maylin's report on the former ATP No. 1 and 24-time Major champion's situation is yet to be confirmed. However, the former WTA No. 1 and five-time Grand Slam winner's loss of her grandfather has reportedly been confirmed by her PR manager, as per Polish journalist Michal Chojecki.

"I asked Iga Swiatek's team if the information given by this journalist about the death of Iga's grandfather is true. Daria Sulgostowska (Swiatek's PR manager) confirms. Iga was at the funeral before the tournament," Chojecki wrote on X, in response to Maylin's post. (translated from Polish)

Both the Serb and the Pole were quite critical of themselves in the aftermath of their respective exits from the 2025 Madrid Open.

Novak Djokovic spoke up about "new reality" after Madrid Open 2R shocker; Iga Swiatek summed up SF performance against Coco Gauff as "pretty bad"

Novak Djokovic (Source: Getty)

Following his 3-6, 4-6 loss to Matteo Arnaldi in the second round of the 2025 Madrid Open, Novak Djokovic laid bare his feelings on losing early on in tournaments this year. Before Madrid, the Serb suffered early exits at the Monte-Carlo Masters, the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, and the Qatar Open.

"Kind of new reality for me, I have to say. You know, trying to win a match or two, not really thinking about getting far in the tournament. It's a completely different feeling from what I had in 20-plus years of professional tennis," Djokovic said at a post-match press conference.

More recently, Iga Swiatek made a damning self-assessment of her underwhelming display against Coco Gauff in the women's singles semifinals, saying:

"I couldn't really get my level up. Coco played good, but, yeah, I think it's, you know, on me that I didn't really move well, I wasn't ready to play back the shots with heaviness, and, yeah, with that kind of game like, yeah, it was pretty bad."

The Serb is expected to feature in competitive action again at the 2025 French Open, after his withdrawal from the Italian Open. The Pole though, is set to be in action in Rome, where she is the defending champion.