Swiatek 'plays it safe' with Rome retirement ahead of French Open defence

 Poland's Iga Swiatek celebrates winning a point against Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina during their quarterfinals match of the
Women's WTA Rome Open tennis tournament on May 17, 2023 at Foro Italico in Rome. - AFP PIC

 IIga Swiatek said she was taking no chances with her fitness ahead of her French Open title defence later this month after the world number one retired from her Italian Open quarter-final due to a thigh issue.

Top seed and two-time defending champion in Rome, Swiatek was tied 2-2 with Elena Rybakina in the deciding set on Wednesday when she decided she could not continue.

The Pole had attempted to carry on playing with her leg strapped up after a medical timeout but said she felt pain while stretching on court.

"For me, the most important thing is to kind of play it safe and not exploit my body so much in such a difficult conditions, after having to play few matches in night session and after midnight," Swiatek said in a statement on Thursday.

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"To be ready for Roland Garros I need to recover right now. I'm going to take a couple of days off. With my quarter-final loss, I have also time to then practice right before the tournament.

"I'm happy right now to have few days off because since Stuttgart I wasn't really able to recover with that tight schedule that we have on the WTA."