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Iga Swiatek earned her tour-leading 64th victory of the season by defeating Donna Vekic 6-3, 3-6, 6-0 in the San Diego Open final. However, her behavior during the match saw her come under a lot of fire.
In the match, the Pole came to the net during a rally in the second set as she tried to save a breakpoint and could be seen flailing both of her arms in the air as Vekic attempted to return the ball. The Croatian eventually won the point to grab a critical lead, which helped her win the second set 6-3. Some fans, however, weren't pleased with Swiatek's behavior.
The World No. 1 recently spoke about the event in an interview with Sport.pl. She claimed she apologized to Vekic right after the match and that it was nothing but her "instinctive behavior."
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"Immediately after the game, I went up to Donna and said I apologized to her for that. Donna had no grudges, it turned out that she did not remember it at all. I hope the fans will understand that too. I know that there were a lot of negative comments about this on the Internet. I'm not proud of the fact that there are things on the court that I sometimes don't control. This is instinctive behavior," Iga Swiatek said.
In view of this, tennis fans were divided over her comments. While some believed her justification was sound, others were unimpressed.
"Hmm ok Iga, ILY but it always looks so well intentioned to distract an opponent who has a clear and easy winner to win the point. But ok. Please also address lifting your racket to stop your opponent from serving, this can be disruptive to the server’s rhythm," a fan wrote.
"This is not a good explanation at all. Yes you can control it. No it isn’t voluntary. This is the dog ate my homework excuse. Just apologize. And take full responsibility. And say it won’t happen again. The end," read one tweet.
"I cannot be the only one that is on Swiatek’s side here? I’m so far from an Iga fan, but this critique is ridiculous. There are about 5-6 points where this alleged “interference” has happened? She has 11 titles, 3 grand slams. Hundreds of players doing worse things, hundreds," another fan said.
Here are a few more fan reactions:
Iga Swiatek will next compete in WTA Finals
Iga Swiatek will next participate in the WTA Finals, which is slated to be held in Fort Worth, Texas from October 31 to November 7.
The three-time Grand Slam champion reflected on this during her post-match press conference in San Diego and predicted that the WTA Finals would be the most "intense tournament" of the year. She also noted that before beginning the rigorous practice sessions for the event, she will spend a few days in Florida to settle comfortably.
"The Finals, I think, is going to be the most intense tournament of the season, playing against the top players from Day 1. We'll get back to intense practicing when we get to Dallas, but I'll have a few days in Florida to get into the rhythm before going," Iga Swiatek said.
