Iga Świątek (1. WTA) will not win the US Open Grand Slam for the second time in her career. The Polish player was eliminated in the quarterfinals after losing 2:6, 4:6 to American Jessica Pegula (6. WTA). Pegula found a way to beat Iga for the fourth time in history and the fourth time she did it on hard courts. “There is no reason to sound the alarm, but at the same time it is clear that in the Grand Slam – with the exception of Roland Garros – Świątek does not play to the best of her ability. It is difficult to expect our tennis player to achieve such results every year as in 2022” – wrote Dominik Senkowski from Sport.pl.
During the match, Świątek made over 40 unforced errors and showed her worse side. “Coach Tomasz Wiktorowski kept trying to help her somehow, but he probably didn't know how exactly. His voice sounded more irritated than confident. On the other hand: why should anyone be surprised? Iga didn't listen to the advice. We all heard that she should play to her opponent's backhand, and we saw that she still chose to play to her forehand” – added Łukasz Jachimiak from Sport.pl.
It turns out that one of Świątek's behaviors during the match caught the attention of a journalist from the United States. What exactly is it about?
Świątek got on the wrong side of the journalist with this. “I'm not sure if this should be in line with the rules”
American journalist Ben Rothenberg drew attention to one of the issues that comes up in matches involving Świątek. It concerns the Polish player's longer absences during toilet breaks. “This is another long break off the court by Świątek after a short set that she lost. I think this issue should be included in the rules. The problem with Świątek is that she does it disproportionately often after losing sets, so it's more a way to change the pace of the match than clothes,” writes Rothenberg.
“Currently, it is in accordance with the rules, but I am not sure if it should be. Świątek is not the only 'criminal' in this matter, but he is one of the most obvious ones,” adds the American journalist on the X portal. Internet users point out to Rothenberg that other tennis players – e.g. Coco Gauff (3rd WTA) or Carlos Alcaraz (3rd ATP) – do the same, and the reaction is only in the case of Świątek. “Where were you when Gauff did it? You always talk about it when Iga does it. It is already irritating,” we read in the comments.
One of the internet users quoted Rothenberg the WTA regulations, which clearly state that tennis players have five minutes to use the toilet and change clothes between sets. The time is counted from the moment they enter the toilet to the moment they leave it. “It seems like we have double standards here,” the internet users add.
Świątek will probably return to play at the end of September, when the WTA 1000 tournament in Beijing begins. There, the Pole is defending last year's title, when she defeated Russian Liudmila Samsonova (16th WTA) in the final 6:2, 6:2. The WTA 1000 tournament in Beijing will last from September 25 to October 6.