Iga Swiatek reacted furiously to a question from a journalist following her US Open victory over Suzan Lamens on Thursday. The former champion battled back from a set down to secure a 1-6 6-4 6-4 win and book her place in round three. She will face Anna Kalinskaya in her next match.
After the match, Swiatek sat down for a routine press conference but things quickly took an awkward turn. One journalist asked if she would consider putting beads in her hair, similar to what Naomi Osaka has done on occasion. Swiatek was angered by the trivial nature of the question and did not hesistate to give the reporter a piece of her mind.
She fumed: “What kind of question is that, excuse me? If I wanted to weave beads in my hair? No. What’s going on?” The journalist responded by standing up and walking out, with Swiatek flashing him a dirty look as he left the room.
It is not the first time that Swiatek has clashed with a reporter in recent months. She was involved in a tetchy exchange with another journalist following her French Open semi-final exit at the hands of Aryna Sabalenka earlier this year.
The reporter asked what happened in the final set, where she was bagelled by Sabalenka, considering that she had recovered from a similar situation against Elena Rybakina in her previous match.
Swiatek responded: “What kind of question is that? What, next time I should lose 6-0 in the first set because of that theory? Is there a problem that I fought in the first set and extended the match?”
The journalist responded by saying: “No, no,” with an irritated Swiatek then asking: “So what is the question?” The reporter said: “The question is how did this match differ from Sunday’s with Elena Rybakina,” to which she replied: “Practically everything.”
Swiatek will be hoping to focus solely on her tennis ahead of her next outing against Kalinskaya, who she defeated in straight sets at the recent Cincinnati Open.
Reflecting on her hard-fought victory over Lamens, she said: “It wasn’t an easy match and I made some mistakes. I’m happy that at the end I could be more proactive.
“I served better [in the third set] than in the previous sets. I wanted to be pretty confident with my serve and go for it. I’m happy that I closed it pretty fast, even though I lost one break.
“I felt like it depended on me and whether I was going to make mistakes or not. Sometimes I did, I probably got a little tight in the second set and she used the opportunity and was using her chances.
“It was not easy, but the third set is a reset. You’ve got to start from the beginning and I knew I could play a little more precisely, so I just tried to do that.”
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