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Iga Swiatek recently opened up about the real reason why she did not watch Elena Rybakina win the 2026 Australian Open but tuned in for Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic's men's singles finals. The Pole highlighted the two reasons behind her decision to skip the clash between Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka.
Swiatek herself was in action in Melbourne in hunt of her maiden Australian Open title as she looked to complete the elusive Career Grand Slam. However, the former World No.1’s campaign Down Under came to an end in the quarterfinals as she failed to make it past Rybakina.
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Recently, in a press conference ahead of the WTA Qatar Open, Iga Swiatek admitted that she didn't watch Rybakina's Australian Open final against Aryna Sabalenka, but she did catch the men's singles clash between Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic. Explaining the reasoning behind her decision, the 24-year-old said,
“I only watched the men's final live. But besides that, I really needed to rest from tennis a little bit. So I analyzed what happened during my match, but I didn't watch because I knew exactly what happened. It was pretty clear what I needed to focus on in the next tournament.”After the conclusion of the Australian Open, Swiatek extended her best wishes to Alcaraz for becoming the youngest male player to complete the Career Grand Slam.
Swiatek at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open (Image Source: Getty)
Iga Swiatek heads into the 2026 Qatar Open as the top seed. The Pole was crowned champion at the event in 2022, 2023 and 2024, but she failed to defend her crown last year, losing the title to America’s Amanda Anisimova. Now, as she gears up for the 2026 edition of the event, the former World No.1 opened up about what she needs to do to reclaim her trophy, telling media,
“I think just the conditions, and also being aware that usually it's super windy here, and you need to accept that you're going to make a little bit more mistakes. I think this is important, because in past years I remember anyone who got more frustrated with the wind lost a lot of points because of it, I think. So, yeah, I think the weather is calmer this year, so we'll see how it goes during the tournament. Honestly, I'm going to treat this tournament match by match, step by step.”Iga Swiatek received a bye for her opening round match at the Qatar Open. The Pole will now take on Indonesia’s Janice Tjen for her second round match at the tournament.
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Edited by Riddhi Acharya
