Iga Swiatek breaks silence on controversial Indian Wells moment with ball boy

Iga Swiatek cleared the air surrounding the harsh behavior portrayed by her during the semifinal match of the 2025 BNP Paribas Open. Swiatek opened up about her emotional outpourings and explained in detail the cause of her reaction in her last match.

The Pole was seen aggressively hitting the ball back to the ball boy during her heated clash against Mirra Andreeva and was immediately booed by the crowd at Indian Wells. She eventually lost the match, which ended her quest to defend her title. Her gesture too, was heavily criticized by the tennis world.

The 5-time Grand Slam title winner, however, recently made an elaborate post to address this issue. She confessed that it was purely out of frustration and that she had immediately apologized to the ball boy, as she posted on Instagram:

"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. I immediately apologized to the ball boy, we made eye contact, and nodded to each other when I expressed regret that it happened near him."

However, she also added that she did not expect such harsh judgments and 'misjudged' the move.

"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," added Swiatek. (excerpt from the post)

Iga Swiatek also spoke on what led to her unfortunate loss at Indian Wells.

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Iga Swiatek on how weather played a key role in her match vs Andreeva

Iga Swiatek at the BNP Paribas Open- Source: Getty

Iga Swiatek opened up on the reasons why she lost in the semifinals at Indian Wells in the post-match interview. Russian Mirra Andreeva outshined the current World No. 2 7-6(1), 1-6, 6-3, and told Polish media outlet Canal+ Sports that the wind was one of the challenges she faced during the match.

"The wind played a big role—at times, it was hard to get out of difficult situations when she was hitting big with the wind, while I was playing against it, and when I had the wind on my side, I wasn’t always able to use it to my advantage—maybe I should have played more aggressively to balance things out," she said. (translated from Polish)

Swiatek is working through her setbacks and keeping her hopes alive in making a comeback with the Miami Open.