It wasn’t the end Iga Swiatek had hoped for. In the United Cup final against Coco Gauff, the usually dominant Polish star found herself in unfamiliar territory—struggling to find her rhythm and falling short of her best. To make matters worse, fans noticed her visibly troubled by a leg issue, which led to a medical timeout mid-match. Now, Swiatek has opened up about the real reason behind her unexpected pause during the high-stakes clash. 

The Polish tennis sensation was baffled in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 as she took on Coco Gauff in a thrilling final. However, what also caught the attention of the tennis community was a timeout that Swiatek opted for. Trailing 5-4 in the second set, Swiatek decided to take a break and returned with a strapping on her niggling left thigh which has bothered her all week in Sydney. When quizzed if the issue was with the same leg the star player gave a detailed explanation and defended her move.

Speaking in the post-match presser, Swiatek said, “Well, taping wasn’t a different leg, but nothing happened really.” Continuing further, she revealed that she was fatigued as well which further forced her to opt for a timeout. “Like, I was just tired. You know, the volume at the beginning of the tournament especially has been pretty big, so yeah, but honestly, like, this really, it’s all good.” When further questioned if it was “just the workload,” Swiatek said, “Yeah.” Remember, the 23-old has been facing a persistent issue quite recently. 

Iga Swiatek took a medical timeout left the court for quite some time and returned with her thigh heavily strapped, during her match against Katie Boulter in the same tournament. She also defended her action back then saying, “I didn’t take medical timeout to throw Katie off her game. I did it because I had to and I didn’t feel well. But I took some, you know, painkillers, and they started working pretty quickly.” Now, as she gears up for the Australian Open, it would be interesting to see if she can get enough rest and overcome her challenges ahead of the Grand Slam

Interestingly, the mid-match breaks taken by Swiatek have been one of the issues for her. The star player has faced immense criticism in the past for taking breaks and has been accused of using them to break her opponents’ momentum.

When Iga Swiatek faced flak for taking mid-match breaks

Tennis courts are no new to controversies, and one such controversy emerged due to Iga Swiatek’s decision to take breaks during her matches. One such voice came from former pro Coco Vandeweghe who claimed that it is a strategic tactic used by the 5-time Grand Slam Champion to distract her opponents and use the time to introspect on her flaws. 

After Swiatek took a timeout while playing against Mirra Andreeva in the quarterfinals of the Cincinnati Masters, Vandeweghe lashed out at her. Mentioning that “it’s been spoken about, Iga’s tactic of going to the bathroom, changing her kit, taking her time, ALWAYS after losing a set,” Vandeweghe claimed, “If I was still playing, I would definitely be very aware of it… she’s trying to disrupt my rhythm…” And while her timeouts during the United Cup were due to a medical reason, different from what she took at Cincinnati, she faced similar backlash from fans. 

However, Swiatek has continued to remain stoic claiming that she has never taken the breaks deliberately. Now, it will be interesting to see if more such incidents unfold and how the tennis community reacts to it at the Australian Open.