MELBOURNE -- World No.1 Iga Swiatek dismissed any concerns after her surprising third-round loss at the Australian Open at the hands of 19-year-old Czech Linda Noskova. In fact, in comparison to her Round of 16 loss to Elena Rybakina in 2023, Swiatek says she leaves Melbourne with a healthier perspective.
"Last year, I felt like much more off the balance," Swiatek told reporters after the match. "I felt like the whole season may be just tough because of the start. I was expecting much more.
"This year I was more focused on just not the results and not the rankings but my game a little bit more. This year I feel like I just want to get back to work. I know I'm going to have plenty of chances during the season to show my game."
Swiatek leaves Australia with a 7-1 start to her season. After going undefeated at the United Cup for Poland, she picked up two more wins in Melbourne to take her win streak, the second longest of her career, to 18 matches. Noskova ended the streak there with a fearless display of aggressive baseline tennis.
Swiatek has not progressed past the Round of 16 in Melbourne since making the semifinals in 2021. Despite her scintillating performances in Perth and Sydney to start the year, the 21-year-old Swiatek admitted something just didn't click this year when she arrived at Melbourne Park.
"For sure I was more stressed than on other tournaments, especially first two rounds," she said. "But I think some things just didn't work as they did before, even though I was working the same way.
"I feel like I did really everything I could in preseason to improve some stuff that I wanted to. Then I came here and I wasn't playing natural anymore. My split step was too late sometimes. Reaction a little bit slower."
Regardless of what happens for the remainder of the tournament, Swiatek's No.1 ranking remains intact. With World No.2 Aryna Sabalenka defending 2,000 points from her title run last year, Swiatek will remain No.1 into February. Her next scheduled stops will be the back-to-back WTA 1000 tournaments in Doha, where she is the two-time defending champion, and Dubai, where she made the final last year.
"I lost but I'm going to have more tournaments," Swiatek said. "I remember just last year getting back to work. I could reset and just focus on the next tournaments. So I'm going to do the same this year."
