Anisimova piled on more misery for the Pole with a comeback win in Riyadh, having already beaten Swiatek at the US Open quarter-finals in September to avenge a 6-0, 6-0 drubbing in the Wimbledon final.
The 2023 WTA Finals champion Swiatek, who captured Wimbledon, Cincinnati and Seoul titles during a resurgent mid-season, was left struggling to understand what went wrong after she failed to secure a semi-final spot at the season-ending championship for a second straight year.
The 24-year-old Swiatek won five titles last year, including her fourth French Open, and six the year before, but conceded that her hard work was no longer paying off as it used to.
"When you do everything and it's still not enough, I guess it means that you just need to get your tennis better. But I felt good mentally, physically and tennis-wise. It was nice looking at the conditions and everything," Swiatek said.
"So, I don't really get why I couldn't go out of the group (stage). Maybe I won too much last year and this is karma. It feels kind of weird.
"It's not like I'm expecting (anything), but from my experiences, if I put so much intensity and grit and I care that much it usually kind of paid off."
Swiatek is projected to finish the 2025 season ranked second behind Aryna Sabalenka and will be determined to challenge for the top spot again next year.
