Iga Swiatek has responded to critics who labelled her “immature or hysterical” following an outburst on-court last week when she hit a ball in frustration in the direction of a ball boy.
The five-time grand slam champion expressed remorse for the incident, and detailed the emotional toll of the past six months, which included a one-month doping ban. In a lengthy social media post on Tuesday, she revealed that at times she thought her “career was hanging by a thread” and spent “three weeks crying daily”.
Tennis world No. 2 Iga Swiatek.Credit: Getty Images
“It’s true – I expressed frustration in a way I’m not proud of. My intention was never to aim the ball at anyone but merely to release my frustration by bouncing it on the ground,” Swiatek said.
“I immediately apologised to the ball boy, we made eye contact, and nodded to each other when I expressed regret that it happened near him. I’ve seen many players bounce balls in frustration, and frankly, I didn’t expect such harsh judgments. Usually, I control such impulses, so half-jokingly I can say I lack experience in this and misjudged my aim in the heat of the moment.”
However, the world No.2 said she was unfairly criticised at times for both showing too much, or not enough, emotion on court, and called out the unhealthy standards tennis players are expected to live up to.
“When I’m highly focused and don’t show many emotions on court, I’m called a robot, my attitude labelled as inhuman. Now that I’m more expressive, showing feelings or struggling internally, I’m suddenly labelled immature or hysterical,” Swiatek said.
“That’s not a healthy standard – especially considering that just six months ago, I felt my career was hanging by a thread, spent three weeks crying daily, and didn’t want to step on the court. Today, after everything I’ve been through, I’m still processing and coming to terms with those experiences.”
“Will sharing this change anything? Probably not because I clearly see how much we love judging, creating theories, and imposing opinions on others. But perhaps a few people who genuinely want to understand what I’m experiencing will understand this.”
Swiatek’s first appearance back on tour following her ban was at the United Cup in Sydney in January.
At the time, the 23-year-old described the ban as “fair” and said the backlash had been less harsh than she expected. She went on to equal her best Australian Open performance with a semi-final appearance where she lost to eventual champion Madison Keys.
However, Swiatek said the reality of the ban had sunk in during a tournament in Dubai last month.
“It struck me hard that my positive test result case, missing two highly ranked tournaments in October, and last year’s exceptional results (winning four 1000-level tournaments and a grand slam in the first half of the season) will keep affecting my ranking and basically take away my chance for No.1. This realisation deeply upset me,” Swiatek said.
