It has not been the greatest of times for Iga Swiatek on the court this year. She has had an inconsistent run across the tournaments in 2024. Despite winning the Qatar Open, she suffered early exits at the Australian Open and the Dubai Duty-Free Tennis Championships. Moreover, she has also caught the headlines for all the wrong reasons of late. After losing against Anna Kalinskaya in Dubai, she made a shocking statement that didn’t go down well with tennis fans.

The Polish tennis star went down fighting against her Russian opponent, losing the semifinal battle in straight sets 6-4, 6-4. It was a one-sided battle, with Kalinskaya dominating Swiatek right through the match. Let’s find out what Swiatek said and how fans reacted to it.

Fans slam Iga Swiatek for downplaying Anna Kalinskaya

Following her defeat, Swiatek appeared for the post-match press conference. During the interview, she was asked about the reasons for her defeat. Instead of praising the level of Anna Kalinskaya, Swiatek felt that her level was the reason for the loss.

She said, “Today I would say, I mean she played well and for sure she deserves to be in the final but I feel it was more about me and my level.” Even though Swiatek acknowledged the efforts of Kalinskaya in the beginning, she soon changed the narrative and blamed herself for losing the match.

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Further justifying this, Swiatek also said, “I didn’t have power anymore to give even more, which doesn’t happen often. I just felt out of control a little bit because of that. Usually when I tell myself what to do, I can improve my game. Today I was so out of power and tired that I just couldn’t.”

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However, Swiatek’s shocking revelation invited criticism from tennis fans. One of the fans felt that Anna Kalinskaya had put on an impressive show against Swiatek, resulting in her victory. The comment read, “Nonsense. Kalinskaya completely outplayed and outclassed her.”

Similarly, another fan didn’t like Swiatek’s attitude after losing matches, saying, “She never admits that her opponent was just better than she was.” From this comment, it is clear that the fans feel that Swiatek has a habit of not admitting that she has been outplayed.

A Twitter user had a harsh verdict on the World Number 1 after hearing her comments and said, “The sorest of losers.” The comment showcases the general expectations of the fans. It is okay to lose, but it is not okay to discredit the opponent who clearly played better.

One of the fans didn’t like Swiatek downplaying Kalinskaya despite the latter putting on a great show, revealing, “this young girl it lying ..and I don’t like it.”

Lastly, one of the fans felt that Swiatek was delusional. Perhaps Swiatek will need to start accepting that sometimes her opponents can be better, and this may also help her develop her skills in the right way.

The Polish star got knocked off from another tournament, however, it remains to be seen if Iga Swiatek can bounce back quickly. With an important month coming up, Swiatek will aim to get back into her groove as she has the Sunshine Double in sight.

What are your thoughts on Iga Swiatek’s post-match statement? Did you expect Kalinskaya to win the match in straight sets? Let us know in the comments!

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