Iga Swiatek regrets her ‘UNINTENTIONAL’ hand-waving gesture at the San Diego Open final after which she was termed as a ‘cheater’
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Iga Swiatek - FirstSportz
Iga Swiatek has maintained her dominance throughout the season claiming two Grand Slam titles this year along with 6 singles WTA titles. But her actions at the San Diego Open were quite unimpressive and she faced criticism for her callous attitude towards her opponent Donna Vekic.
During one of the rallies, she went to the net and raised both her hands in order to distract her opponent from completing the next shot. This was not the first instance she did something of this sort. She has been also been mocked for distracting her opponent and showing unsportsmanlike conduct.
The 3-time Grand Slam champion regrets making the choice as she realizes her mistake. She went on to state during an interview that it was intentional as she acted as such being under stress. She also stated that she went on to apologize to the Croatian post the match and is hopeful people will understand her just like Vekic.
She said “I can’t control it, but I hope it will never happen again. We are working on it. It is a stress reaction to what is happening. It is an involuntary reaction. I did it during the US Open, and as I recall it was a stressful moment. In San Diego, I did it unconsciously. Right after the game I approached Donna and apologized. She had no hard feelings, it turned out she didn’t recall this at all. I hope fans will understand me as well. I’m aware of the many negative comments on the internet concerning this incident. I’m not proud of the fact, that sometimes I’m not in control of what I do on the court.“
Iga Swiatek maintains to be No 1 for 30 consecutive weeks and is the fourth female athlete to achieve the feat
The 2022 French Open champion claimed the top spot since Ashleigh Barty‘s sudden retirement from the sport in April. Swiatek had dominated the clay season with an 18-match winning streak until her elimination at the Poland Open. Her 37-match winning streak ended with her loss in Wimbledon.
She added another milestone at such a young age to register 30 weeks as being the World’s No 1. She is the fourth women athlete to claim her top position for a total of 30 weeks straight without any break after Steffi Graf, Martina Hingis, and Serena Williams. Being the No 1 player, she has qualified for the year-end championship. She has also confirmed her participation at the WTA Finals which will be her final tournament of the year.
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Prateek Pradhan
(601 Articles Published)