Agency :
Iga Swiatek blamed fatigue for her loss to Anna Kalinskaya in the Dubai semi-finals on Feb 23, admitting that she “didn’t have power anymore” to up her level during the match.
Kalinskaya snapped Swiatek’s seven-match winning streak and ended the world No. 1’s bid for a rare Doha-Dubai title double with a commanding 6-4, 6-4 victory.
“I didn’t have power anymore to give even more, which doesn’t happen often,” admitted the 22-year-old Swiatek, a four-time Grand Slam champion.
“I just felt out of control a little bit because of that. Usually when I tell myself what to do, I can improve my game. Today I was so out of power and tired that I just couldn’t.”
For now, the Polish star would probably take a little time off for rest before Indian Wells comes around in March.
Swiatek will be looking to improve on her performance last season, when she lost in the semi-finals to Kazakh Elena Rybakina, who went on to win the tournament.
The top seed came into the semi-finals in Dubai having won 25 of her last 26 matches and looking to follow up her title run in Doha, Qatar last week with a first-time triumph in the UAE.
In contrast, Kalinskaya had to battle through the qualifying rounds and has clinched three top-10 victories over Jelena Ostapenko, Coco Gauff and Swiatek.
“She’s a great player. I knew if I didn’t stay calm and I didn’t stay aggressive she is going to destroy me. So that was my plan, to stay aggressive, to move her a lot,” said the 25-year-old of Swiatek.
The 40th-ranked Russian was contesting her first WTA 1000 semi-final, and her win meant that she made it into the first tour-level final of her career, where she faced Italian Jasmine Paolini on Feb 24.
Kalinskaya had defeated Paolini in January at the Australian Open to reach her first Grand Slam quarter-final, where she lost to eventual runner-up Zheng Qinwen of China.