Iga Swiatek Told There Was 'No Need' To Respond To Critics After Ball Boy Incident
NewsSaturday, 29 March 2025 at 18:31
Iga Swiatek released a statement after an incident at the Indian Wells Open, but Andy Roddick feels like she didn't need to do that.
Swiatek has yet to lift a trophy since last year's French Open. It will soon be a year since the Polish player last won an event, and it seems that the pressure might be getting a bit to her.
In recent weeks, the former WTA World No. 1 player has shown much more frustration on the tennis courts than fans have been used to, and it's not a surprise. She was used to winning events almost every week, and now, she struggles to even get to the finals.
Swiatek's annoyance was obvious during her semi-final defeat at the Indian Wells Open when she angrily hit a ball that went close to a ball boy. It was an ugly-looking incident, but soon after, the Polish player clarified that it had nothing to do with the ball boy; she was just angry at herself and wanted to hit the ball in anger.
Swiatek also later clarified that the statement that she released was not really an apology. She just wanted to express her feelings and also address her recent on-court struggles.
Former ATP World No. 1 player, Andy Roddick, thinks that Swiatek didn't even need to publish that statement. In his column for Betway, the former American player explained that, in his mind, such a long statement wasn't necessary.
"Iga Swiatek’s been in the news after nearly hitting a ball kid with a ball, and I don’t think she needed to respond to her critics at length on social media. I think she’s a very thoughtful person, and I don’t think she’s irresponsible in thought at all and no decision she comes to is by accident."
"I think if she would have just said, 'hey, I messed up. I almost hit a ball kid. That’s my bad,' I don’t know that anyone would have really gone much further than that."
At the same time, Roddick can see a reason why Swiatek wanted to write a long statement in which she addressed not only the incident with the ball boy, but also her recent struggles.
According to Roddick, the statement was more about Swiatek getting all the thoughts out, especially after her positive doping test saga, rather than about the incident in Indian Wells.
"I can’t imagine anything worse than getting an e-mail that says you tested positive for something like melatonin, where it was unintentional and she has since been proven innocent. That would have been the biggest disaster that I could receive."
"Her big statement felt like it was like it was less about the ball kid, more about her just getting everything out. Again, we’re dissecting someone who has made the semis in Australia, the semis of Indian Wells and has played fine this year, and that’s all before we get to clay, where she is invincible."
"Each year is different, but if someone wanted to take anyone against her at the French Open I’d be happy to take that bet."
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