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With her surreal dominance in recent months, Iga Swiatek is certainly one of the most watched tennis players in the world. Her success and popularity have, however, come with their share of controversy.
The World No. 1 has been subjected to constant accusations about her seeming hindrance during matches. Swiatek’s fans, however, aren’t too happy about the recent jibe towards her during a match in Dubai.
During the 2022 US Open, the tournament champion was criticized by fans as well as sports commentators for her distracting hand movement during net points, which they labeled as a hindrance.
The Pole faced similar accusations during her title win at the 2022 San Diego Open, where she won the title against Croatia’s Donna Vekic. This time around, Swiatek was made aware of the accusations floating around and she apologized to her opponent and tennis fans for causing the distraction.
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“Sorry for waving my hands at the net," Iga Swiatek said, apologizing to Donna Vekic.
“I can’t control it, but I hope it will never happen again. We are working on it,” she additionally explained.
Despite Swiatek’s apology and clarification, the hindrance accusations have refused to clear up, as the 21-year-old was taunted for yet another such incident during her second-round match against Liudmila Samsonova at the ongoing Dubai Tennis Championships.
Tennis fans, however, haven’t taken well to the constant scrutiny of the athlete and have bashed those nitpicking the World No. 1.
“Come on. It’s just some reflex. She’s not doing it on purpose, leave this girl alone, you guys are analyzing every fckn details…And I’m not even a fan of her. It’s just facts,” one tennis fan remarked.
Many others commended Swiatek for making an effort to work on her unintentional distracting gestures.
“The way you can clearly see she stopped herself as soon as she realised she was doing it but guaranteed ppl will run with this again, i’m tired,” one fan said.
Here are a few more reactions from fans:
Iga Swiatek through to 2023 Dubai Tennis Championships semifinals
Iga Swiatek has progressed to the semifinals of the 2023 Dubai Tennis Championships. The World No. 1 has continued with her blistering form, having not dropped more than three games in each of her last five matches.
In Dubai, the 21-year-old got better of 2021 US Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez in the first round with a 6-1, 6-1 victory. She crushed Liudmila Samsonova in the next round, dropping just two games - 6-1, 6-0.
Swiatek was scheduled to face off against former World No. 1 Karolina Pliskova in the quarterfinals of the tournament, but the Czech player withdrew from the match-up, citing a viral illness. The Pole now awaits the winner between Americans Coco Gauff and Madison Keys in the semifinals of the event.
