Iga Swiatek Reveals Abusive Messages She Received From Fans After China Open Exit: “Sad Part of Our Reality”

Iga Swiatek will make her debut at the Wuhan Open, which she skipped last year because of her doping case.

Iga Swiatek Reveals Abusive Messages She Received From Fans After China Open Exit: “Sad Part of Our Reality”

Iga Swiatek (via X/The Tennis Letter)

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Iga Swiatek crashed out of the China Open with a three-set defeat to Emma Navarro in the fourth round. The Pole entered the tournament after her successful campaign at the Korea Open, where she had defeated Ekaterina Alexandrova in three sets.

Swiatek, the 2023 champion in Beijing, had skipped the China Open last year because of her three-week provisional suspension. But her defeat in the tournament this year did not go down well with some fans, as they started to send her abusive messages. Swiatek did not hesitate to share them on Instagram story.

Nowadays, this is a sad part of our reality in sports. Bots, betting, but also ‘fans.’ It is worth considering, especially since World Mental Health Day is just a few days away.

Check out her story here:

Iga Swiatek's Instagram story
Iga Swiatek’s Instagram story

The Korea Open was Swiatek’s third title of the season, following her victory at Wimbledon and the Cincinnati Open. Swiatek also reached the final of the Bad Homburg Open (her first final on grass), but she couldn’t go past Jessica Pegula. It was also her first final since her career’s fourth victory at the French Open last year.

Iga Swiatek on the hectic 11-month calendar

Iga Swiatek was once again asked about the 11-month tennis calendar and the 10 mandatory WTA 1000 tournaments. She, like many players, has always censured the hectic schedule; playing continuous tennis sometimes leads to injuries as well, giving the players not much time to recover.

Iga Swiatek
Iga Swiatek (Image via X/Cycling on TNT Sports)

Players also think it stops them from working toward improvement if they don’t get much time between tournaments. At the press conference at the China Open, Swiatek chose not to talk more about the schedule.

It’s clear that the season is long and intense, so I have no more thoughts because I’ve been talking about this issue for a long time, so I don’t think it makes sense to repeat it now. I don’t have anything new to add on this matter; what I said before is enough. I’m sorry, that’s it.

World No.2 Swiatek would have narrowed the rankings gap had she reached the China Open final and won the title. At present, she has 8553 points in the live rankings, while World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka gained a lot of points after winning her fourth Grand Slam singles title at the US Open and now has 11010 points in the live rankings. Winning the Wuhan Open won’t help her rankings much, as Sabalenka will continue to sit comfortably at the top.

Iga Swiatek to play at the Wuhan Open

The Wuhan Open was one of the tournaments on the Asian swing that Swiatek had skipped last year. The six-time Grand Slam champion in fact has never featured in the Wuhan Open in her career and is all set to make her debut. But before that, she wants to make some improvements in her game.

Iga Swiatek (3)
Iga Swiatek (Image via X/Jimmie48 Photography)

Honestly, there are some specific things that I think I can improve on the court, so I’ll try to do that in the coming days. I’ve never been to Wuhan, I have no idea what the place is like or how the courts are, but it will be nice to see a new place. It’s good that the tournament is shorter, so it doesn’t matter as much if you win or lose; you can continue and keep doing your job, that’s it.

Iga Swiatek said at the China Open press conference

Swiatek has 11 WTA 1000 titles to her name, the last of which she clinched by beating Jasmine Paolini at the Cincinnati Open. The last time the 24-year-old won multiple WTA 1000 titles was in 2024 (won four).

Also read: Jannik Sinner Gives his Take on the Debate Surrounding Increasingly Packed Tennis Schedule