"First the Emma Raducanu incident, then this?"; "Scary" - Fans appalled at Iga Swiatek being harassed by 'obsessed' troll during Miami Open practice

Tennis fans were left in shock after Iga Swiatek was targeted by an "obsessed" troll during one of her practice sessions at the 2025 Miami Open. Last year, Swiatek had reached the fourth round of the tournament before being defeated by Ekaterina Alexandrova.

This year, Swiatek is seeded second at the WTA 1000 hard court event in Florida and she began her campaign in the tournament in the second round after receiving a first-round bye. In her first match, the former World No.1 defeated Caroline Garcia with a score of 6-2, 7-5.

Iga Swiatek then triumphed over 27th seed Elise Mertens 7-6(2), 6-1 in the third round to secure her spot in the fourth round. With this victory, Swiatek extended her record of reaching the last-16 of a WTA 1000 event for the 25th consecutive time.

Recently, while practicing at the Miami Open with her team, Iga Swiatek was heckled by a troll.

This obsessed Iga hater went to her training in Miami and yelled things at her about her personal life and mother. Can the organisers do something about this? byu/LineusLongissimus intennis

This incident did not sit well with the tennis fans, who took to social media to express their shock, outrage and their opinions on the same.

One fan drew parallels between Iga Swiatek's harassment in Miami to that of the stalker incident faced by Emma Raducanu at the 2025 Dubai Tennis Championships. The fan also expressed that the WTA needs to act and increase the protection of its players.

"First the Raducanu incident in Dubai and then this??? The WTA needs to up the protection of its players from harassers like these," a fan posted.

Comment byu/LineusLongissimus from discussion intennis

Another fan deemed the incident of Swiatek being harassed during her practice session as "scary."

"Wtf this is scary I hope they do something," a fan wrote.

"Oh my god what a psycho. I checked his twitter account and he really seems to be obsessed with Iga, her mother and Daria. I hope she's safe because it doesn't seem like he was removed by the security," a fan posted.

"That is disgusting. Hope he’s banned from all events for life," a fan wrote.

Comment byu/LineusLongissimus from discussion intennis

Here are some other fan reactions:

"It seems to me these incidents always happen to women. I can't recall a similar event directed against a male player in recent memory..." a fan posted.

"This is horrible...why can he access the training courts? I thought it's limited to players and their teams only?" a fan wrote.

"This is how players get stabbed," a fan posted.

Comment byu/LineusLongissimus from discussion intennis

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Iga Swiatek will face Elina Svitolina in the 2025 Miami Open 4R

Iga Swiatek at the 2025 Miami Open [Image Source: Getty Images]

Iga Swiatek will go head-to-head with Elina Svitolina in the fourth round of the 2025 Miami Open.

Svitolina is seeded 22nd at the WTA 1000 hard court tournament in Florida and she kicked off her campaign in the second round after receiving a first-round bye. She secured a convincing victory over Belinda Bencic with a score of 6-1, 6-2 in the opening round.

The Ukrainian most recently, triumphed over 15th seed Karolina Muchova with a score of 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 in the third round to advance to the fourth round where she will face Swiatek.

Iga Swiatek and Elina Svitolina have faced each other three times on the WTA Tour, with the former World No.1 emerging victorious in two out of those three matches. Their most recent encounter took place in the third round of the 2024 Dubai Tennis Championships, where Swiatek emerged victorious with a score of 6-1, 6-4.

The winner of the fourth-round match between Swiatek and Svitolina at the 2025 Miami Open will move on to face either 10th seed Paula Badosa or wild card Alexandra Eala in the quarterfinals.