Iga Swiatek is preparing for the new season by participating in the United Cup 2024. In the nation-based tournament, Poland was set to face China. Iga Swiatek took to the court to represent Poland against Zheng Qinwen. However, it was an incident before the match, that got fans talking on social media.
Minutes before their United Cup quarterfinal singles match, World No. 1 Iga Swiatek smacked her Chinese opponent with a serve during their warmup. Just as Zheng was turning back to face the ball after speaking with a ball child off the court, the ball smacked into her right wrist. This angered the Chinese player and she exchanged some words with Swiatek.
Iga Swiatek did put her hand up to apologize but everything seemed half-hearted. The Pole was quick to say sorry but Zheng was not pleased with her apology. Swiatek saw Zheng staring at her and apologized again by lifting her two fingers off the ball. Both the players then returned to warming up before the start of their match.
During their quarterfinal, Iga Swiatek dominated the Chinese player to win in straight sets. The World No.1 won the match 6-2, 6-3 to send Poland into the semi-finals of the United Cup. The Polish star now leads Zheng 5-0 in head to heads.
Although the players shared a handshake at the end of the match, the tennis community on Reddit were not happy with Swiatek’s behavior. Some fans felt that the Polish player does it too often, while others thought that Swiatek is childish. Some people even called Swiatek thoughtless for the things she does on the court.
Iga Swiatek has a history of controversies
Iga Swiatek might be the best women’s player in the world but she has not escaped from controversies. The 22-year-old came under fire when she appeared to tap her racquet in the middle of a point to distract her opponent. The Pole did end up winning the point on her way to victory. However, there was a lot of backlash towards Swiatek for her behaviour.
This was blatant hinderance from Iga and I hope she learns from this and doesn’t try something like that again.
Really not a good look at all. pic.twitter.com/qqn4s1bipu
— Pierre (@szaczn) June 22, 2021
During the San Diego Open final against Donna Vekic, Swiatek was seen waving her hands around to distract the opponent. The Polish star was seen moving her hands around before Vekic’s serve and that disappointed many tennis fans.
Iga Swiatek will start the Australian Open as the favorite to win the title. The Polish superstar has enjoyed amazing success since 2020 which has seen her rise to the top of the world rankings. However, these constant controversial moments will do the Pole no good.
