Iga Swiatek wants to simplify her game after shock opening defeat in Miami

MIAMI – Iga Swiatek said that she would try to simplify her game, after the six-time Grand Slam champion was stunned 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 by world No. 50 Magda Linette at the Miami Open on March 19 for her first opening defeat in 74 WTA tournaments.

The world No. 3, who received a bye into the second round, looked to be cruising after sweeping through the first set. But her Polish compatriot Linette soon turned the tables to cause the event’s first major upset.

“Tennis feels complicated in my head,” Swiatek told reporters. “I know it’s supposed to be simple. In terms of my mentality and how I feel on court, it’s going to take a while.”

The 24-year-old said her tactical game unravelled in the second and third sets, contributing to her first opening loss since the 2021 WTA Finals.

“I stopped doing anything well tactically (after the first set),” she added.

“It just was a bad match for me... unconsciously, or consciously, it’s hard for me to say. I need to work to get back from that, because I haven’t felt things like that for like five years.

“I’ll just get back to work, try to get something positive out of the practices and try to figure it out.”

Swiatek did not go meekly, however. She saved a pair of match points on her own serve in the eighth game of the third and two more as Linette served for the match, before the latter sealed the win as Swiatek sent a backhand wide.

“She actually gets really good on those break points down, match points down,” Linette said. “She starts swinging. I just knew I had to stay strong on my serve.”

She also played down the significance of the win.

“I don’t like to make a fuss about it because there aren’t too many Polish players, so there’s a little more attention. Obviously Iga sets such a high standard for us that’s often not reachable,” said Linette.

“I think it was an amazing win for me, it means so much at this stage of my career but I don’t want to comment about it in a way that could put her down.”

The 34-year-old advanced to a third-round match against 20-year-old Alexandra Eala of the Philippines, a 6-7 (6-8), 6-3, 6-3 winner over Germany’s Laura Siegemund.

“It really was close,” said Eala, a surprise semi-finalist in 2025 who needed 3 hours and 20 minutes to close out the victory.

“It was demanding, physically and mentally.

“But that was one of my goals last year after the tournament, to improve physically, and here I am fresh as a flower.”

It was the longest WTA career match for the 29th-ranked Eala, who beat Swiatek in the 2025 Miami Open quarter-finals for the biggest win of her career, before losing to American Jessica Pegula in the semi-finals.

Former world No. 1 Venus Williams, 45, lost her first-round match to Britain’s Francesca Jones 7-5, 7-5 after 1hr 51min.

Jones advanced to a second-round match against fifth seed Pegula, the 2025 Miami runner-up to Aryna Sabalenka.

On the men’s side, Brazilian Joao Fonseca, 19, outlasted Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 to book a second-round match with world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz.

Fonseca, ranked 39th, was strongly backed by Brazilian fans as he booked a first-ever meeting with Alcaraz and his second marquee contest in as many tournaments, after falling to Jannik Sinner at Indian Wells last week.

French 17-year-old Moise Kouame beat qualifier Zachary Svajda 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 to become the youngest player to claim an ATP Masters 1000 victory since Rafael Nadal in Hamburg in 2003. Kouame, who received a wild card invitation, next faces 21st seed Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic.

Kouame, who battled through cramps late in the match, was thrilled to receive a message of congratulations from his idol Novak Djokovic.

“He texted me something really, really nice,” Kouame said. “I don’t know how I’m going to answer. Hopefully, I can meet him... it will be my dream.” REUTERS, AFP