"Taking comments out of Serena Williams' book" "This lady really hates women" – Iga Swiatek's assessment of Dubai SF loss to Anna Kalinskaya irks fans

Iga Swiatek has irked several tennis fans with her comments following the loss to Anna Kalinskaya in the semifinals of the Dubai Tennis Championships.

Kalinskaya shocked Swiatek on Friday, February 23, at Dubai Duty Free Tennis Centre with her grit. She fended off a staggering nine break points out of the total eleven that the Pole created.

In turn, the Russian broke Swiatek, who had not dropped a set in this tournament, four times and bundled her out 6-4, 6-4 of the Dubai draw in an hour and 42 minutes.

After the match, however, Swiatek suggested that the outcome had more to do with her playing badly.

"Today I would say, I mean she [Anna Kalinskaya] played well and for sure she deserves to be in the final, but I feel like it was more about me and my level. I wanted to be focused on myself and I wasn’t really able to implement any tactics that I had.", she said at a press conference.

The World No. 1's comments unsettled the tennis community on X (formerly Twitter) as one of the fans lamented the lack of appreciation for Anna Kalinskaya.

"Give your opponent credit omg this lady really hates women," the fan wrote.

Another fan reckoned Iga Swiatek's take had a resemblance to Serena Williams' remarks after a loss.

"Taking comments out of Serena's book. Must've been written down in her notebook," the fan stated.

Here are a few more reactions from X:

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"Iga Swiatek's a great player... I'm happy I had the chance to play against her" - Anna Kalinskaya praises Pole

Anna Kalinskaya is through to the Dubai 2024 final

Anna Kalinskaya showered praise on Iga Swiatek after the semi-final, suggesting it required a great effort to overcome the Pole in the Dubai Tennis Championships semifinal on Friday.

"Iga Swiatek's a great player. I knew if I didn't stay calm and aggressive she’s gonna destroy me. That was the plan. To stay aggressive. Move her a lot. I'm happy I won. She's unbelievable. I'm happy I had the chance to play against her. I'm sure we'll play a lot in the future," Kalinskaya said in her on-court interview.

The Russian then extended her gratitude to her coach Patricia Tarabini and father Nikolay. She said:

"I'm super happy with my team. Thank you coach, thanks dad. It's a pleasure to work with them. I feel much better physically than I did last year, big respect to my fitness coach, who's watching now. That gives me a lot of confidence to play at the highest level."

Kalinskaya will play Italy's Jasmine Paolini in the Dubai Tennis Championships final on Saturday, February 24. Their head-to-head currently stands at 1-1.