Iga Swiatek Downplays Impact Of Being Harassed During Practice On Shock Loss In Miami
NewsFriday, 28 March 2025 at 11:47
Iga Swiatek was asked about the verbal abuse she received during a 2025 Miami Open practice session for the first time, but did not want to say much about it.
A hater known to be obsessed with Swiatek filmed himself heckling her during a session. He disgracefully shouted about the world No. 2's mother while she tried to focus on training in Florida.
The man involved boasted about his actions before and after sharing the video of it. His account has since been deleted, and hopefully, the loser will never go anywhere near Swiatek again after the incident.
Swiatek's PR specialist revealed that she had additional security added after the incident. It is sad that high-profile athletes must take such actions because of deeply unpleasant individuals like that man.
The five-time Grand Slam champion defeated Elina Svitolina in the round of 16 after the incident at her practice session. However, she then suffered a huge upset against Alexandra Eala in the round of 16.
Swiatek never looked herself throughout the match against Eala. She was tense throughout and became angry at one point when her coach, Wim Fissette, tried to offer advice that might have been helpful.
A reporter in her post-match press conference asked Swiatek if her preparation for the match against Eala had been disrupted by being heckled at the practice session and needing additional security. The Pole briefly answered that it had not.
"No, I wouldn't say so."
Swiatek's not wanting to say much about the situation is understandable. Some feel her behavior before that incident was more erratic than usual and not the type fans are used to seeing.
During her loss to Mirra Andreeva at the 2025 Indian Wells Open, Swiatek struck a ball back toward a ball kid, although it landed over them. That is something she has never previously done.
Swiatek also furiously threw her racket down during a loss to Jelena Ostapenko at the 2025 Dubai Championships. Her fifth consecutive defeat to the Latvian made it a tough loss to accept.
The 23-year-old's fierier-than-usual behavior and comments about it led to her releasing a lengthy social media post about how the past few months, including her one-month ban for testing positive for trimetazidine, created anxiety.
Despite the defeat to Eala being another painful moment, Swiatek gave her opponent credit and admitted she was not expecting the Filipina to hit the ball so flat, a tactic that consistently rushed the former world No. 1.
"Well, for sure, I didn't know she's going to play that flat, but besides that, well, she was really aggressive, you know, and she kept her focus. And, like, I don't know, some of these shots were pretty like out of nowhere."
"But still, you know, I could see clearly she has intentions to go forward and to push. So it worked for her today, for sure."
Swiatek will hope to put disappointing Middle Eastern and North American hard court swings behind her during the clay court swing, which has always been her most successful time of the season.
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