Iga Swiatek makes honest confession as she addresses Danielle Collins ‘insincere’ drama
Iga Swiatek has divulged that she still does not understand why Danielle Collins described her as “insincere” after the pair’s heated recent encounter at the Olympics.
The world No 1 was leading 4-1 in the third set of her quarter-final match against Collins at the Paris Games when the American retired due to an injury.
During a fiery clash, Collins told Swiatek to “play at the server’s pace” after the Pole held up her hand to stop the American from serving, while Collins also hit Swiatek in the midriff with a drilled passing shot.
Following Collins’ retirement, the pair exchanged words and the American revealed she had made a point to Swiatek about being “insincere.”
“I told Iga she didn’t have to be insincere about, you know, my injury,” the world No 10 said in her press conference.
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“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.”
After progressing to the semi-finals in Paris, Swiatek was beaten 6-2, 7-5 by eventual gold medallist Qinwen Zheng. The 23-year-old then cruised past Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 6-2, 6-1 in the bronze medal match.
In an interview with WP SportoweFatky, Swiatek was asked if the “commotion” of the match against Collins had affected her in her last four loss to Zheng.
“I am a professional, and such things have no effect on how I play tennis later on,” said Swiatek. (translated from Polish).
“However, to this day I have absolutely no idea where her comment came from and I decided that there was no point in getting into it. I focused only on myself.”
Swiatek also addressed whether she still enjoys life on the tennis tour as much as when she started her career.
“The joy of playing changes from week to week,” she explained. “Besides, I wouldn’t say that in 2019 or 2020 the joy of tennis was the greatest, because then there were a lot of difficult moments.
“I didn’t play tennis that well yet, there were more defeats and the feeling that I still had a very long way to go. I keep finding new sources of motivation.
“Now I also have a lot of work to do, but it’s different when most tournaments end in the first or second round, and something else when in the semi-finals or finals.
“Now it’s easier to see the positives. Besides, I have settled my life on the tour so well that it is much more comfortable for me now.”
Swiatek is playing her first tournament since the Olympics in Cincinnati, where she is looking to win a maiden title. The Pole will face world No 69 Varvara Gracheva in her opening match at the WTA 1000 event.
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