"Has there been a worse sportsmanship player than Iga Swiatek?" - Pole slammed by fans for delaying tactics against Madison Keys at Australian Open

Iga Swiatek briefly delayed Madison Keys' serve during the pair's 2025 Australian Open semifinal clash. The Pole's act left most tennis fans annoyed. While some ridiculed the former No. 1 over the incident, others suggested that Keys should have gone ahead with her serve without waiting.

Swiatek and Keys played out a thrilling Australian Open semifinal on Thursday, January 23. The topsy-turvy match ultimately ended in the American's favor, as she secured a 5-7, 6-1, 7-6(8) win to reach her second Grand Slam final. Keys' first final appearance at a Major came at the 2017 US Open, where she lost to Sloane Stephens.

Madison Keys was all ready to serve to get the third set started. However, at the time, Iga Swiatek was captured by cameras shadow swinging and doing short sprints at the opposite end instead of preparing to face the American's serve. Typically, players are expected to play at the pace of the server.

It didn't take tennis fans on X (formerly Twitter) long to criticize Swiatek over what they perceived as the Pole deliberately delaying Keys' serve. After she got into her returning position, she also briefly held her racket up in Keys' direction, further delaying the American's serve.

"This is what Swiatek was doing after the umpire had called time and @Madison_Keys was ready to serve. Madison understandably was not impressed. Has there ever been a worst sportsmanship player than Iga Swiatek?" asked an irate fan.

"Keys should have just served and said I thought she was ready," one wrote.

"I’m always like ‘why don’t I like Iga? She seems fine’ then I’m reminded," another chimed in.

Here are some more fan reactions to the incident:

"Seems like the Melatonin kicked in," a fan wrote, making a sarcastic reference to Swiatek's doping controversy.

"She is definitely on a spectrum lol," another opined.

"Did you hear the crowd? They were annoyed with her," yet another fan weighed in.

Swiatek has been previously called out over delaying her opponent's serve as well.

Madison Keys' compatriot Danielle Collins took objection to Iga Swiatek delaying serve in tense Paris Olympics 2024 encounter

Danielle Collins during her women's singles quarterfinal against Iga Swiatek at the 2024 Paris Olympics (Source: Getty)

During the heated women's singles quarterfinal clash between Danielle Collins and Iga Swiatek at the 2024 Paris Olympics, the American was not too happy when the Pole suddenly held her racket up, which caused a delay in Collins' serve.

Quite clearly annoyed with Swiatek, the American bluntly told the Pole:

"There's like no one behind me. Play at the server's pace."

Tensions between Swiatek and Collins escalated in the immediate aftermath of the contest. The American retired mid-match citing injury and when the pair came together to shake hands, she was captured by cameras giving Swiatek an earful, leaving the Pole with a shellshocked expression.

Later, Collins called Swiatek "insincere" and "fake", stirring quite the controversy. The Pole though maintained that she didn't know what she had done to irk the American to such a degree.