Before the US Open, some fans and experts were worried about Iga Świątek's form. At the Paris Games, the world ranking leader lost in the semifinals to Qinwen Zheng (7th), and then had to admit the superiority of Aryna Sabalenka (2nd) in the semifinals in Cincinnati. But in New York, our player is playing great. Apart from the first clash with Kamilla Rakhimova (104th), when she won with difficulty 6:4, 7:6(8), all the other matches were definitely easier for her.
Celt explains why Świątek has been criticized: “Everyone else has to catch up”
Despite this, the 23-year-old began to be criticized by some people in the tennis community. In addition, the words of Danielle Collins (11th) resonated loudly, accusing the Pole of insincerity. If that was not enough, suddenly Ida Świątek began to be irrationally accused of taking too long toilet breaks, which was supposed to knock her opponents out of their match rhythm.
All this put even more pressure on the WTA ranking leader. Fortunately, she quickly dealt with this emotional baggage, leaving her energy on the court. – You definitely start to piss people off when you are number one for so many weeks and basically dominate throughout the year. Because Iga dominates. Looking at the scores, tournaments won, she has a huge advantage. She builds it in the first half of the year, because this is the part of the season when more factors suit her. Then the rest have to catch up. And she can't catch up – emphasizes Dawid Celt in an interview with Onet Sports Review.
In his opinion, the irritation of experts and other tennis players stems from simple helplessness in the face of the Pole's cosmic level. – This is already some kind of a hate campaign. For example, about Iga going to the toilet after losing a set. And the interpretation that these are her games to throw her opponent off her rhythm. And yet, more than one Świątek takes advantage of this. What's more, Iga also goes on a break after winning sets. So what, does she want to throw herself off her rhythm then? No, it's just her routine, fully permissible under the rules – adds the expert, who years ago was on Agnieszka Radwańska's team. In his opinion, Świątek “shed some weight off herself”, which is clearly visible in her recent matches.
Now, the 23-year-old's opponent in the US Open quarterfinals will be Jessica Pegula (6th). Can the hosts' representative pose a threat to our tennis player? – Jessica doesn't serve well. This is something that should give Iga peace of mind, because the Pole returns great. Even if there was a mistake with her own serve, Świątek is able to make up for it – explains Celt. The meeting will take place on the night from Wednesday to Thursday at 1:00 AM Polish time.