Iga Świątek inaugurated her the clay court campaign at the 2026 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, where she lost in the quarterfinal to Mirra Andreeva. Despite this defeat at the WTA 500 tournament in Stuttgart, tennis legend Chris Evert expressed confidence in the Pole’s style of play on the surface.
Świątek has previously won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart twice. She first claimed the title in 2022 by defeating Aryna Sabalenka in the final and then defended her title in 2023, again overcoming Sabalenka in the championship match.
Iga Świątek Receives Vote of Confidence From Chris Evert After Stuttgart Run
This year, Świątek was seeded third at the 2026 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix and began her campaign in the second round after receiving a first-round bye. She defeated Laura Siegemund, winning 6-2, 6-3 in her opening match, but then fell to sixth seed Andreeva 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.
Recently, a tennis-focused social media account shared a video comparing Świątek’s forehand at Stuttgart in 2025 and this year. The Pole resumed her journey with renewed hope this time, after adding Rafael Nadal’s coach, Francisco Roig, to her team a few weeks ago.
Reacting to the video, Evert noted that Świątek appeared “quicker” and “fitter” on court during the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, which she indicated were promising signs for the Pole ahead of the upcoming clay court tournaments.
“to me, she looked quicker on the court, fitter, more energy, all good signs 👍 👍 💪🏼 💪🏼,” Evert commented.
Looking ahead, Świątek is set to compete at the 2026 Madrid Open, which takes place from April 21 to May 3, 2026. The tournament’s matches will be played on the outdoor clay courts at Park Manzanares in Madrid, Spain.
In addition to the former Word No. 1, other players expected to participate in the WTA 1000 clay-court tournament include Coco Gauff, Andreeva, Elina Svitolina, Alexandra Eala, Madison Keys, Victoria Mboko, Belinda Bencic, Jeļena Ostapenko, Naomi Osaka, and defending champion Sabalenka, among others.
MORE: Iga Świątek Addresses Disappointing Quarterfinal Loss to Mirra Andreeva
Świątek recorded her best result at the Madrid Open in 2024. She was the top seed at the tournament, and she began her campaign in the second round after a first-round bye. She defeated Wang Xiyu (6-4, 6-1), Sorana Cîrstea (6-1, 6-1), Sara Sorribes Tormo (6-1, 6-0), Beatriz Haddad Maia (4-6, 6-0, 6-2), and Madison Keys (6-1, 6-3), advancing to the final.
In the championship match, she triumphed over defending champion Aryna Sabalenka (7-5, 4-6, 7-6(7)), winning the tournament and claiming her ninth WTA 1000 title and 20th career WTA Tour title.
Last year, during her title defense at the Madrid Open, the six-time singles Grand Slam champion defeated Eala (4-6, 6-4, 6-2), Linda Nosková (6-4, 6-2), Diana Shnaider (6-0, 6-7(3), 6-4), and Keys (0-6, 6-3, 6-2) before losing to the eventual runner-up Gauff (1-6, 1-6).
