Iga Swiatek had an incident at the 2025 Indian Wells Open that saw her almost hit one of the ball boys. She has now released a statement addressing the situation.
The recent months have gone differently than Swiatek likely experienced. Just in June last year, she won her fifth Grand Slam title at the French Open, and things were looking great for her.
Since then, the Polish player tested positive for a banned substance, served a one-month suspension, and started struggling also on the tennis courts. In fact, she has yet to win a trophy since that Roland Garros triumph.
Her frustration also showed in her semi-final match at the 2025 Indian Wells Open. The 23-year-old Polish player was taking on 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva, who beat her only a few weeks prior to that meeting in Dubai.
Once again, the Russian teenager handled the match better, beating Swiatek in three sets, 7-6(1), 1-6, 6-3. During the match, Swiatek showed a lot of frustration.
At one point, the Pole was very angry, and after one of the ball boys threw a ball in her direction, as they normally do, Swiatek slammed the ball into the ground, almost hitting the ball boy.
She was booed by the crowd at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, and plenty also criticized the four-time French Open winner online. That’s why she has decided to release a public statement on her Instagram profile.
“One of my favorite tournaments of the year is behind me. I’m slowly moving in the direction I want and leaving here with solid work done, many good memories, and some valuable lessons. I see there’s been a lot of recent talk about changes in my on-court behavior and emotions.”
Although Swiatek isn’t usually a player who would address what’s said about her online, she felt like it was needed this time. She wanted to talk about the incident with the ball boy.
“Although I’m not comfortable explaining myself, it’s time I share my perspective to stop the speculation and baseless theories. First, about the incident during my last match. It’s true I expressed frustration in a way I’m not proud of.”
The WTA World No. 2 player clarified that the incident had nothing to do with the ball boy. She only wanted to express her frustration, hitting the ball into the ground. Swiatek also explained that she immediately apologized to the ball boy, recognizing that she probably didn’t hit the ball how she wanted to.
“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, we made eye contact, and nodded to each other when I expressed regret that it happened near him.”
“I’ve seen many players bounce balls in frustration, and frankly, I didn’t expect such harsh judgments. Usually, I control such impulses, so half-jokingly I can say I lack experience in this and misjudged my aim in the heat of the moment.”
Swiatek also talked about her recent form struggles in the statement, but she also got back to her emotions, mentioning how unfairly she’s treated, regardless of what emotion she shows.
“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.”
Swiatek will have a chance to prove her haters wrong already at the 2025 Miami Open. The tournament will start on March 18th, and as the second seed, the Pole has a first-round bye. Her second-round opponent will be Caroline Garcia or a qualifier.
