Iga Swiatek scares ball kid in epic meltdown, makes anger known to chair umpire and team during Indian Wells defeat
Iga Swiatek, who was the title favourite at Indian Wells, crashed to a semi-final defeat against 17-year-old Mira Andreeva, on Saturday. The Russian teenager reigned supreme, and began on a strong note, winning the first set via the tie-breaker (7-1), 7-6. Then the World No. 2 staged a comeback and won the second set 6-1, and it looked like Swiatek was back in the game. But in the deciding set, Andreeva sealed a resounding 6-3 win, to complete a three-setter victory (7-6, 1-6, 6-3).
The match had its fair share of drama as Swiatek fell victim to controversy. The Polish ace was visibly frustrated as she failed to gain any control in most stages of the match, and showed her anger on herself and her team. She also had a meltdown with a ball kid, who gave her the ball, but she smashed it to the ground in anger. The ball kid appeared shellshocked as the ball bounced straight to Swiatek’s team.
In the third set, she also ran to the chair umpire and began to argue that she was being distracted by ball kids, who were moving during her opponent’s serve.
Andreeva will now face Aryna Sabalenka, who is the current World No. 1, in the finals. Both players have faced each other six times, with the teenager winning only once (2024 French Open semi-finals). This year, Sabalenka beat her 6-3, 6-2 in Brisbane and 6-1, 6-2 in Melbourne.
