Iga Swiatek Accused of Unsportsmanlike Conduct During Qatar Open Match Against Maria Sakkari – “Such a Cheater!”

Iga Swiatek‘s Qatar Open campaign ended on Thursday (February 12). Maria Sakkari snapped her four-match losing streak to secure a 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 win over the Pole, improving her head-to-head record to 4-4.

Swiatek once again found herself in a double-bounce controversy. At 5-3, 40-30, Sakkari served for the match, and during the rally, the ball had bounced twice before Swiatek returned. The six-time Grand Slam champion did not acknowledge that the ball had hit twice, with fans now claiming that she did it on purpose.

What she did was simply walk away while Sakkari was arguing with the umpire, who overturned the decision after the Greek ace took a video review.

Here’s the video:

Is Iga Swiatek the worst sportsmanship player in Tennis?

She would likely have known that this clearly was a double bounce, I'm so pleased @mariasakkari kept her composure and beat her.#WTADoha #Sakkari

pic.twitter.com/dFRLlyPc4D

— Pavvy G (@pavyg) February 12, 2026

Swiatek, who completed a three-peat of the first WTA 1000 of the season from 2022 to 2024 and lost to Elena Rybakina in the quarterfinals last year, has not yet reached the semifinals of a singles tournament this year. After winning the United Cup with Poland for the first time, Swiatek lost to eventual champion Rybakina in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open.

Fans accuse Iga Swiatek of deliberately not admitting the double-bounce during the Maria Sakkari match

Iga Swiatek has been facing the heat of fans a lot since the doping scandal, as since struggled to produce consistent performance. Many on social media said they are convinced that Swiatek knew that the ball had bounced twice during that match against Maria Sakkari.

Some accused Swiatek of being the kind of player who only wants to win at all costs, not paying heed to sportsmanship.

Check out fans’ reactions here:

She IS a cheat. 100% certainty that she knew…. it was a very obvious double bounce. Very much in keeping with her character.

— Richard (@richard_rea) February 12, 2026

They will never make me like Iga Swiatek 🫰 pic.twitter.com/izqTAICijz

— Nicolas Ally ✝️ (@nick_ally1986) February 12, 2026

No way Iga tried to get away with a double bounce, and her fans will stay defending her “sportsmanship” 😂 #swiatek

— CATweets (@CAme_Tweets) February 12, 2026

This is why @iga_swiatek you are so unlikeable 😂 clear as day a double bounce yet you didn’t concede the point 😂

— Kin #retired (@kinkinoops) February 12, 2026

For those saying that Iga Swiatek didn't know if it was a double bounce or not, please look at it from this angle and see if you feel the same?

Some players seem to want to win at all costs, Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek names both seem to spring to mind. pic.twitter.com/Roj0JK1YK3

— Pavvy G (@pavyg) February 12, 2026

Will Iga ever call out her own double bounces? Iga knew she didn’t deserve that point, and yet she did/said nothing. Iga has zero integrity. Unsportsmanlike. @iga_swiatek how do you respond?

— ParisWhenever (@pariswhenever) February 12, 2026

Swiatek clearly knew it was a double bounce

Look at her demeanour, head down, quickly going back to her seat

She was never going to admit it

Just add it to the long list of unsportsmanslike behavior from her pic.twitter.com/Z64xoHOAmS

— Corvath Draemir (@Archaicmind3000) February 12, 2026

Nothing new, Here’s Swiatek acting like she didn’t hit a clear double bounce…

Sportsmanship 🤷‍♂️pic.twitter.com/8czoLXxcxU https://t.co/3SI9dIvUjq

— SK (@Djoko_UTD) February 12, 2026

Iga Swiatek is such a cheater! There's no ways she didn't know that was a double bounce. Yeeeer!

— Nkosiyazi (@NkosiTheVision) February 12, 2026

At the 2022 Qatar Open, Swiatek defeated Anett Kontaveit. The following season, she went past Jessica Pegula, while in 2024, she beat Rybakina.

Maria Sakkari analyzes her performance against Iga Swiatek

Sakkari will be playing the semifinal of a WTA 1000 tournament since the 2024 Indian Wells, where Swiatek denied the World No.52 her career’s second title of this level. The lone WTA 1000 title that Sakkari has lifted was the 2023 Guadalajara Open, and she has also made three more finals. Following her latest win, Sakkari analyzed her match at the press conference.

You’re always the underdog with playing against the No.2 in the world, especially where I’m coming from. But I kept telling myself, even after the first set, that I was playing good tennis, and that I had to stick to my game plan and the way I was playing. I was aggressive, I was brave, and it worked out really well.

It was Sakkari’s second top-10 win following her victory over two-time Grand Slam singles finalist Jasmine Paolini in the second round. Sakkari will next be squaring off against Karolina Muchova, against whom she trails 1-4 in the head-to-head matchups. Before scheduling the match against Sakkari, Muchova knocked out Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya.

I honestly don’t feel like I was playing bad in that first I was unlucky with that net cord in the two-all game. It was going to be 3-2 up for me. I know it’s a small detail, but with those players, it’s one or two points per set that can really change everything. It’s different going 3-2 up than 3-2 down a break.

Maria Sakkari added

Swiatek has so far added 11 WTA 1000 titles to her trophy cabinet, the last of which she won at the 2025 Cincinnati Open by defeating Paolini. She has yet to win a tour-level title since defeating Ekaterina Alexandrova in last year’s Korea Open final. As she lifted her career’s first grass-court title at Wimbledon last year, she would have completed the Career Grand Slam had she won this year’s Australian Open.

Also read: Boris Becker Slammed for Recently Criticizing Emma Raducanu: “A Mean-Spirited Opinion”