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By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Tuesday March 18, 2025
Iga Swiatek has taken to social media to apologize for her behavior during last weekend’s semifinal with Mirra Andreeva at Indian Wells, and to explain her current state of mind.
The second-ranked Pole posted an in-depth Instagram message that gave followers an intimate view of her struggles and a window into some of the emotional difficulties she has encountered over the last year.
“I see there’s been a lot of recent talk about changes in my on court behavior and emotions,” she wrote. “Although I’m not comfortable explaining myself, it’s time I share my perspective to stop the speculation and baseless theories.”
Swiatek referred to an incident that occurred during her loss to Andreeva, when she bounced a ball off the court perilously close to a ball kid. To be fair the ball wasn’t as close to him as some camera angles made it look, and it bounced harmlessly into the crowd.
“I expressed frustration in a way I’m not proud of,” she wrote. “My intention was never to aim the ball at anyone, but merely to release my frustration by bouncing it on the ground. I immediately apologized to the ball boy, and we made eye contact, and noted to each other when I expressed regret that it happened near him.”
Swiatek went on to contextualize her emotional experiences, referring to her positive doping test and resulting suspension, which served to sabotage her 2024 season.
“Secondly, regarding emotional expression: the second half of last year was extremely challenging for me, especially due to the positive doping test, and how circumstances completely beyond my control, took away my chance to fight for the highest sporting goals at the end of the season. “This forced me to rearrange certain things within myself. In the Middle East, however, it struck me hard that my positive test result case, missing two highly ranked tournaments in October, and last year’s exceptional results will keep affecting my ranking and basically take away my chance for number one. This realization deeply upset me. You could see this on the court in Dubai.”
Her words reveal a highly competitive mindset, and also a bit of fragility when it comes to hearing – and listening to – negative commentary about her.
Unfortunately, it’s a very common thread that many players encounter as they face a maelstrom of online criticism from keyboard critics.
“I know that playing while stuck in past frustrations, over things beyond my control, isn’t the right path,” Swiatek wrote, adding:
“When I’m highly focused and don’t show many emotions on court, I’m called a robot, my attitude labeled as inhuman. Now that I’m more expressive, showing feelings or struggling internally, I’m suddenly labeled immature or hysterical. That’s not a healthy standard, especially considering that just six months ago, I felt my career was hanging by a thread, spent three weeks crying daily, and didn’t want to step on the court.
“Today, after everything I’ve been through, I’m still processing and coming to terms with those experiences.