Tennis legend Boris Becker reacted to Iga Swiatek's heated exchange with a ballkid during her semifinal match at the BNP Paribas Open held at Indian Wells. The Pole failed to defend her title and lost to 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva in three sets, which resulted in a disappointing exit from the tournament.
Swiatek was seen aggressively smacking the ball back towards a ballkid during the match and was immediately booed by the crowd. A user took to X (formerly Twitter) to share a clip of this incident and wrote:
"I said months ago that she never really stopped being a sore loser, she just stopped losing. And in the last 8 months or so we’ve seen a lottttt more of *this*"
The former World No. 1 shared this post and dropped a 4-word reaction on this.
"Iga got little angry…" wrote Becker.
Ahead of this, the Russian prodigy had stunned the current World No. 2 at the Dubai Tennis Championships. She defeated Swiatek 6-3, 6-3 in the quarterfinals and eventually went on to win the tournament. The Pole has had a difficult start to the season and her search for her maiden title of 2025 goes on.
Iga Swiatek, however, channeled a positive mindset in an interview after her loss to Mirra Andreeva at Indian Wells.
Iga Swiatek reflected on her current performance after devastating loss at Indian Wells

Iga Swiatek faced another heartbreak this season at the BNP Paribas Open. After her defeat to Mirra Andreeva in the semifinals, she spoke to Polish media outlet Canal+ Sports and reflected on how she will be striving for improvement as the season progresses.
"It’s hard to explain to someone who doesn’t play tennis—it’s a mix of instinct, intuition, almost something metaphysical. But I’ll keep working on it so that in tense matches like this, I can be more consistent and find a way to turn things around." said Swiatek.
She further praised Andreeva for giving her a tough contest.
"She definitely played better and probably braver in key moments. Of course, I remember a few shots I could have played better, but overall, I think it was a high-level match," she added (translated from Polish).
Swiatek will now look to work on her current form and look for a return to winning ways soon. She will next be in action at the Miami Open.