Fact-check: Did Emma Navarro say she did not respect Iga Swiatek after Australian Open controversy? Looking into the viral claim

Iga Swiatek put up yet another scintillating performance at the 2025 Australian Open on Wednesday (January 22) as she beat eighth-seeded Emma Navarro for the loss of just three games to reach the semifinals. While most of the match was smooth sailing for the Pole, there was a point midway through the match that attracted controversy.

Swiatek hit the ground running during the beginning of her last-eight outing in Melbourne, blanking Navarro by a scoreline of 6-1 in the opening set. The World No. 2 and the World No. 8 were tied 2-2 in the second set when it all went down.

Serving from the nearer end of the Rod Laver Arena at Ad-In, Iga Swiatek and her American challenger were embroiled in a long rally before the latter tried to win the point with a sneaky drop shot. The Pole almost got the ball while it was still up but according to video replay, she had got her racquet on the shot after the ball had bounced twice.

The chair umpire, however, didn't stop play after Swiatek's double bounce and she went on to win the point with great hustle. Navarro, on her part, was visibly frustrated at the umpire's error in judgment and they had an exchange. The eighth seed didn't win a single game after that altercation, going out 1-6, 2-6 in one hour and 31 minutes.

A fan later took to X (formerly Twitter) to amplify what they claimed to be Emma Navarro's quotes to the media about the five-time Major winner's apparent lack of fair play following the double bounce incident during their Australian Open quarterfinal. The individual wrote:

"Emma Navarro on Iga Swiatek after the double-bounce controversy: 'I just told her I didn't respect her as a competitor. I think she goes about things in a pretty cut-throat way. It makes for a locker room that doesn't have a lot of camaraderie.'"

The post has since amassed huge numbers on X, having been viewed over 207,000 times. At the time of writing, the above quotes have received over 1,300 likes and 100+ reposts. Having said that, the information in the above post is incorrect considering Navarro didn't cast the above aspersions over Swiatek's sportsmanship.

More interestingly, while the user was correct in attributing the quote to Emma Navarro, the player about whom the World No. 8 complained was not Iga Swiatek, but Zheng Qinwen instead. The 23-year-old took shots at the Chinese star at last year's Paris Olympics; in the women's singles third round, the American wasted a set lead and a match point in the second set to lose to the then-World No. 7 by a scoreline of 7-6(7), 6-7(4), 1-6.

Clearly miffed with Qinwen's on-court attitude, Navarro had a few words with the then-World No. 7 at the net following their match. She later revealed to the media:

"I just told her I didn't respect her as a competitor. I think she goes about things in a pretty cut-throat way. It makes for a locker room that doesn't have a lot of camaraderie."

The fan in question, meanwhile, cleared up the air surrounding their viral post on X a few hours later. They wrote:

"Please note Emma didn’t say this about Iga today, these comments were what she said about Qinwen from last year’s olympics… it’s just a copypasta."

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Iga Swiatek to face Madison Keys for a place in her maiden Australian Open final

Iga Swiatek hits a forehand during Australian Open 2025 (Source: Getty)

Iga Swiatek has enjoyed a phenomenal showing in Melbourne this fortnight, having not dropped more than four games in a single set during her first five victories. The 23-year-old will next take on the 19th-seeded Madison Keys for a place in the title match at the 2025 Australian Open.

Swiatek leads Keys by a large margin of 4-1 in their head-to-head meetings on the WTA Tour. However. the 29-year-old American has more experience in semifinal matches Down Under (having made it to the last four in 2015, 2022 and 2025) relative to her younger opponent, who has contested the semifinals only once at the tournament (2022).