(Video) Iga Swiatek seen giving a tearful hug to her coaching staff after losing in Australian Open semifinals
World No.2 Iga Swiatek was inconsolable after losing a tight semifinal match against Madison Keys at the Australian Open.
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Iga Swiatek hugs her team after losing Australian Open semifinal (Images via Screengrab/AUSOpen Instagram)
Iga Swiatek failed to end the 2025 Australian Open semifinal match in her favor. The Pole, on January 23, succumbed to a three-set defeat to 19th seed Madison Keys in two hours and 35 minutes and was inconsolable after the match.
Swiatek was chasing her sixth Grand Slam title and her first at the Australian Open. Before facing Keys, she won all her matches in straight sets and even registered three bagels.
But as predicted by many before the match, Swiatek struggled against the 2017 US Open finalist, who had saved one match point before securing the win. After the match, in a video that emerged on social media, Swiatek could be seen giving tearful hugs to the members of her coaching staff.
Watch the video here:
The 29-year-old is now set to lock horns with World No.1 and two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka in the final. The 1st seed from Belarus defeated Paula Badosa in the semifinal. If Keys wins the tournament, she will become the fourth player in this decade to beat World No.1 and World No.2 in the same tournament.
Andy Roddick compared Iga Swiatek with Rafael Nadal
Former World No. 1 Andy Roddick said he relates to watching Iga Swiatek because he too was a ‘little more frantic’ and ‘fidgety’. The 2003 US Open champion then compared Swiatek to her idol Rafael Nadal, observing that even during crucial moments, the World No. 2 doesn’t allow easy points to her opponents.
Her intensity, point-to-point, is Rafa-like. She emotes more than Rafa, which makes us view her as…Rafa doesn’t give you anything when he’s losing points. Iga will look at the box and maybe look a little more panicked sometimes, but she’s right back as far as point-to-point and refocusing and resetting.
Andy Roddick said during his Served with Andy Roddick podcast
Swiatek is now a two-time Australian Open semifinalist, reaching the last four for the first time in 2022. In the semifinal, the 23-year-old toiled hard to clinch the first set, but to her disappointment, she could win just one game in the second set.
Momentum then kept shifting in the third set, which eventually went to the tie-break, and Keys pushed the five-time Major champion before winning with scores of 5-7, 6-1, 7-6(8) to inch closer to her first Major title.
Keys, who is now in her second Grand Slam final, had won just one match against the 23-year-old in their previous five meetings and it came on the hard court. She has now extended her winning streak this year to 11 matches following her ninth WTA title at the Adelaide international.
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Gouri Das
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