In recent days, Iga ¦wiątek (2nd WTA) has been in top form. It’s safe to say that in the first five rounds of the Australian Open she was one of the best, and maybe even the best, player in the entire field. She advanced to the semi-finals without starting a set, beating her rivals in a very short time. For this reason, in the match against Madison Keys (14th WTA), she was a clear favorite.
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This behavior of Świątek enraged the fans. Just look at the comments
Already in the first set of the final match, the American proved that she would be an extremely demanding opponent for the second-ranked player in the world ranking. After a series of breaks on both sides, Keys managed to draw the score from 2:5. However, Świątek won the next two games, thanks to which she led in the entire match. Despite this, it was clear that her opponent’s play was at a really high level.
Keys showed off her great performance in the second game, in which the 23-year-old had nothing to say. She managed to win only one game. The American bombarded her with service aces and powerful, quick shots, which the Pole clearly couldn’t handle. Ultimately, her opponent needed only 27 minutes to win the second set 6:1.
A moment later, both ladies went onto the court to play the decisive game. This time the ball was in Madison Keys’ court, and after a few dribbles she was ready to serve. However, her application was delayed because at that time Iga Świątek extended her warm-up slightly. When Keys wanted to pass the ball, the Pole, with her back turned, was perfecting her backhand and forehand moves.
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Some fans strongly disliked her behavior. Fans on social media admitted it was unsportsmanlike. “Was there ever a worse athlete than Iga Świątek?”, “The referee should have given her a warning”, “She is so strange. Maybe it’s a side effect of some substance?”, “The referee is not sitting there without a reason. He should have reacted. I’m not surprised that Madison Keys was nervous, “Iga always plays mind games” – it was written maliciously.
Ultimately, even this did not help Świątek. In the third set, she lost in the tie-break 8:10, and lost the match 7:5, 1:6, 6(8):7. In Saturday’s final, the American will play for the title against Aryna Sabalenka.
