Iga Swiatek issues blunt response to Danielle Collins question ahead of Wimbledon clash
Iga Swiatek and Danielle Collins face off at Wimbledon on Saturday, the latest meeting in a rivalry where there is not too much love lost.
This will be the 10th time the two have faced off, and, on the court, Swiatek has largely been dominant in their rivalry to date.
The Pole holds a 7-2 lead in their head-to-head and had won six straight matches against Collins until they met at the Italian Open in Rome back in May.
On that occasion, it was the American who prevailed, ending Swiatek’s title defence with a 6-1, 7-5 victory in the third round of action at the Foro Italico.
After the match, heavy focus was placed on Swiatek’s struggles to lift a WTA title, a drought that has now extended to 13 months.
Collins was not necessarily too happy with that, claiming that she felt she had not been given enough credit for her performance at the WTA 1000 event.
And, while it is perhaps unknown how much tension that clash in Rome, and Collins’ comments in the aftermath, has caused, there is no denying that Swiatek and the American are not the best of friends.
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There appeared to be little tension and animosity between the two until last summer’s Paris 2024 Olympic Games, where they met in the last eight of the women’s singles event.
Collins was forced to retire injured when trailing 6-1, 2-6, 4-1 and, despite the nature of how the match ended, the pair engaged in a tense conversation amid their post-match handshake.
The American had been frustrated during the match due to what she perceived to be Swiatek’s slow play on return, and afterwards accused the five-time Grand Slam champion of being “insincere”.
“I told Iga she didn’t have to be insincere about, you know, my injury,” commented Collins at the time.
“There’s a lot that happens on camera, and there are a lot of people with a ton of charisma and come out and are one way on camera and another way in the locker room.
“And I just haven’t had the best experience, and I don’t really feel like anybody needs to be insincere.
“They can be the way that they are. I can accept that, and I don’t need the fakeness.”
Swiatek later claimed that she had “no idea” where Collins’ thoughts came from, though the evident tension was present during a frosty handshake at the United Cup back in January.
Now, the two will meet for the first time on grass, a surface in which neither has truly thrived across their respective careers to date.
After her Wimbledon second-round victory over Caty McNally, Swiatek was asked about the potential challenges of facing Collins at Wimbledon.
And, it is fair to say that she did not divulge too much in her response.
She commented: “I haven’t watched any of her games, so… I will need to prepare tactically for sure tomorrow [Friday].”
Further asked about what she made of Collins’ game, Swiatek was again not keen to offer too lengthy of an answer.
“Well, flat hitter, baseline player. Solid serve. Likes to be proactive, be aggressive,” added Swiatek.
The Pole’s assessment of her upcoming opponent’s game seems to be an accurate one, but there is no denying that she was not keen to go into too many details.
Their third-round clash will be the second match of the day on Centre Court: expect plenty of fireworks.
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