‘Ugly and dangerous’ – Iga Swiatek slammed for shocking reaction to ball kid
Iga Swiatek was dethroned by 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva on Friday. However, the battle between the pair would end up going viral online for all the wrong reasons. Iga Swiatek smashed her racket down in front of a ball kid@SkySportsTennis Five-time major winner Swiatek was dumped out of Indian Wells with the match also seeing the Pole face criticism after a tense moment with a ball kid. In a controversial move during the third set, Swiatek smashed the ball given to her by a ball kid. It led to her facing a chorus of boos as the ball landed in the stands but only narrowly missed the ball kid. Her frustrations may have boiled over because moments before Swiatek complained to the umpire that the ball kids were moving around while she waited for Andreeva’s serve. During her exchange with the umpire, the official told her, “I am watching, I saw you holding your racket.” Inevitably Swiatek’s reaction saw her face a flurry of criticisms with fans online slamming the 23-year-old for her behaviour. “Ugly and dangerous, no need to take your anger out on a ball-kid,” one fan wrote on X. “Should have been disqualified. Period,” another fan added. “All the anger from Iga in sets 1 and 3, and just total unacceptable from her,” one fan posted on X. Russian teenager Andreeva blew Swiatek away in a 7-6, 1-6, 6-3 win to reach the Indian Wells final for the first time in her career. View Tweet: https://twitter.com/hashtag/TennisParadise?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw Iga Swiatek suffered another disappointing exitGETTY This is Mirra Andreeva’s second consecutive Masters 1000 finalGETTY After a tight first set, Andreeva was flawless in the tie-break as she forced a forehand error on set point and let out a roar in the process. Swiatek, in usual fashion, stormed back in the second set as she broke in the first game and went on to level the match. Although it was Andreeva who then clawed back momentum, as she broke Swiatek to open up the third set as the winds in the California dessert started to pick up. Andreeva ripped a forehand winner at 3-1 up before forcing Swiatek to dump a backhand into the net on match point to hand the 17-year-old win. “After she literally killed me in the second set I thought, okay, I’ll just try to fight,” Adreeva said on court. “There is not much I could do about it, she was playing amazing. I just decided to fight for every point. “It doesn’t matter how I put the ball in but I have to put it in. In the end it wasn’t too bad.” Mirra Andreeva is looking to make it back-to-back WTA 1000 titlesGETTY Meanwhile, the match for Andreeva keeps her hopes alive for a second consecutive Masters 1000 title. The victory was also her 11th in a row and makes her the youngest player to reach an Indian Wells final since Kim Clijsters in 2001. Andreeva when she faces Aryna Sabalenka in the final is looking to become the first teeanger since Bianca Andreescu in 2019 to win the title in California. The 17-year-old also joins an illustrious list of becoming just the fifth player to reach an Indian Wells final before turning 18. In addition to Clijsters in 2001, the other three players to achieve the feat are Monica Seles (1991), Martina Hingis (1998) and Serena Williams (1999). For Swiatek her 2025 is yet to turn golden, as despite her deep runs in tournaments, this is now her fifth consecutive semifinal loss since winning the French Open last June.
Iga Swiatek was dethroned by 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva on Friday.
However, the battle between the pair would end up going viral online for all the wrong reasons.
Five-time major winner Swiatek was dumped out of Indian Wells with the match also seeing the Pole face criticism after a tense moment with a ball kid.
In a controversial move during the third set, Swiatek smashed the ball given to her by a ball kid.
It led to her facing a chorus of boos as the ball landed in the stands but only narrowly missed the ball kid.
Her frustrations may have boiled over because moments before Swiatek complained to the umpire that the ball kids were moving around while she waited for Andreeva’s serve.
During her exchange with the umpire, the official told her, “I am watching, I saw you holding your racket.”
Inevitably Swiatek’s reaction saw her face a flurry of criticisms with fans online slamming the 23-year-old for her behaviour.
“Ugly and dangerous, no need to take your anger out on a ball-kid,” one fan wrote on X.
“Should have been disqualified. Period,” another fan added.
“All the anger from Iga in sets 1 and 3, and just total unacceptable from her,” one fan posted on X.
Russian teenager Andreeva blew Swiatek away in a 7-6, 1-6, 6-3 win to reach the Indian Wells final for the first time in her career.
After a tight first set, Andreeva was flawless in the tie-break as she forced a forehand error on set point and let out a roar in the process.
Swiatek, in usual fashion, stormed back in the second set as she broke in the first game and went on to level the match.
Although it was Andreeva who then clawed back momentum, as she broke Swiatek to open up the third set as the winds in the California dessert started to pick up.
Andreeva ripped a forehand winner at 3-1 up before forcing Swiatek to dump a backhand into the net on match point to hand the 17-year-old win.
“After she literally killed me in the second set I thought, okay, I’ll just try to fight,” Adreeva said on court. “There is not much I could do about it, she was playing amazing. I just decided to fight for every point.
“It doesn’t matter how I put the ball in but I have to put it in. In the end it wasn’t too bad.”
Meanwhile, the match for Andreeva keeps her hopes alive for a second consecutive Masters 1000 title.
The victory was also her 11th in a row and makes her the youngest player to reach an Indian Wells final since Kim Clijsters in 2001.
Andreeva when she faces Aryna Sabalenka in the final is looking to become the first teeanger since Bianca Andreescu in 2019 to win the title in California.
The 17-year-old also joins an illustrious list of becoming just the fifth player to reach an Indian Wells final before turning 18.
In addition to Clijsters in 2001, the other three players to achieve the feat are Monica Seles (1991), Martina Hingis (1998) and Serena Williams (1999).
For Swiatek her 2025 is yet to turn golden, as despite her deep runs in tournaments, this is now her fifth consecutive semifinal loss since winning the French Open last June.
