Iga Swiatek’s struggles continued, as she lost her Qatar Open quarterfinal to World No. 52 Maria Sakkari, despite taking the first set, on Thursday, February 12. Fans online were particularly upset with the Pole’s psychologist, Daria Abramowicz, for her apparent unpleasant behavior during the match.
This was Swiatek’s second tournament of the season. At the Australian Open, she lost to eventual winner Elena Rybakina in the quarterfinals. A two-time champion in Qatar, Swiatek was the top seed this time after Aryna Sabalenka’s withdrawal. In her first two matches, the World No. 2 defeated Janice Tjen and Daria Kasatkina.
However, Sakkari fought back from a set down to win 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 and leveled her head-to-head record against Swiatek at 4-4.
Meanwhile, fans expressed their displeasure with the Pole’s psychologist, Daria, as they shared their reactions on X.
“Daria’s pouring fuel on the fire, yelling, pulling horrific faces like someone burned down her barn, not controlling her emotions. That’s mental baggage for Iga, not support,” a fan wrote.
“Daria Abramowicz yells at her, and Iga becomes even more insecure and exhausted. It’s a shame @WTA doesn’t intervene, since her family has no problem seeing their girl treated this way. It’s all disgusting,” a user commented.
“That woman always makes nasty faces when Iga is losing, like, aren’t you supposed to be the calmer one and help her?” a fan wrote.
“Daría definitely isn’t helping her anymore. Iga’s problem isn’t her tennis, it’s that she self-destructs,” another one chimed in.
“The female Vukov (Elena Rybakina’s controversial coach),” someone wrote.
“Daria is the biggest fraud,” a user commented.
Also, before Thursday, Swiatek had never lost a WTA 1000 match after winning the first set. She had a flawless record of 109-0 until Sakkari became the one in 109-1.
Iga Swiatek Weighs In On Whether Women Should Play 5 Sets at Majors
The discussion about the idea of women playing five sets at the Grand Slams, similar to men, is gaining traction.
At a press conference during the ongoing Qatar Open, Iga Swiatek recently gave her verdict, saying (via The Tennis Gazette):
“I think with the world right now that is kind of, like, speeding up, I don’t really think it makes sense for us to play such long matches. Especially when I think it would be tough to keep the quality up throughout the whole match.”
“But if you ask specifically about my game, I consider myself one of the players that is like kind of tough in coping with endurance and longer matches. I think maybe I would have some advantage,” she added.
Swiatek’s next assignment will likely be the WTA 1000 Dubai Tennis Championships, beginning on Sunday, February 15.
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