Iga Swiatek expressed her discontent with Netflix about the editing of her episode on Break Point. The Netflix original docuseries, which gives a behind-the-scenes look into the lives of tennis stars, focused on the World No.1 for an episode. However, some choppy editing led to Swiatek and her team receiving a bit of hate due to a misunderstanding. The Pole said that she would have liked it if Netflix could have done it in a better way.
Swiatek revealed that they watched the episode before it premiered but did not have a say in how Netflix did the editing. The 22-year-old star added that the hate she got made her realize that she does need to participate in such documentaries at this point in her career.
Iga Swiatek thinks Netflix did a bad job
Episode 9 of the series focused on Swiatek, parallelly alongside Frances Tiafoe. The episode sheds light on her introverted nature, showing her as a focused individual. It chronicles their journey at the 2022 US Open.
Swiatek has previously talked about receiving hate mail and comments on the internet. She termed it unnecessary, saying players cannot give their best in every match so it makes no sense to hate on them for losing. She rued that the haters fail to see the positive side of things.
The Pole recollected being trolled for losing a final despite playing well throughout the tournament. She added that she tries to ignore it, but it’s practically not possible to since she posts regularly. Swiatek talked about how ignoring such hate takes up her energy, hoping people realize the sacrifices and not hate blindly.
Swiatek’s remark about not ‘sacrificing’ her hair for tennis drew criticism. Specifically, her psychologist Daria Abramowicz received hate for ‘influencing’ the player’s hairstyle. Swiatek denied this, saying that her refusal was sarcastic, but poor editing from Netflix made it seem otherwise.
“There were some things that I thought they edited it, and people kind of misunderstood sometimes few situations in the episode. Well, we already kind of spoke to Netflix about these things. I wish it could be done a little bit differently. When we watched before the premier, we couldn’t have any influence on how they edited some stuff.
“Yeah, there was a lot of hate after the episode came out. That’s another thing that kind of convinced me that I don’t need that right now at this stage of my career. So, yeah, I wish Netflix could do it a little bit differently, some things.
“Yeah, I was sarcastic and I said I’m not going to, like, adjust my haircut to tennis because I tend to, early years, a few years back, cut my hair really short. Daria reminded me about that. She got a lot of hate that she’s like, I don’t know, has influence on my haircut. That’s not true because she’s just a person who’s going to kind of remind me of those stuff.”
It does not seem like Swiatek will participate again in any such documentary following this fiasco.
Swiatek doesn’t need this right now
Swiatek is only 22 and has a legacy in front of her. She does not need to be followed by cameras for documentaries right now. The 2023 Australian Open champion said that while filming Break Point was enjoyable, she is not fully comfortable around cameras. She, however, praised the series and the reason behind it.
Break Point featured a wide range of tennis stars, and a second season is rumored. It is unlikely that Swiatek will be seen again in the Netflix series. She has, however, kept the door open to feature in such a series in the future when she can handle the responsibility.
