The Danielle Collins and Iga Swiatek rivalry has taken another twist after another encounter at the United Cup.
Collins felt Swiatek was ‘insincere’ about her injury during their 2024 Olympics quarter-final, which ended early after the American retired hurt, giving the Pole a 7-1 head-to-head record versus Collins.
Swiatek was left confused by Collins’ criticism, but their WTA controversy in Paris wasn’t limited to that incident.
Fans criticised Swiatek for taking a bathroom break before the beginning of the deciding set, which many people interpreted as gamesmanship.
The tension has now spilt over into the United Cup, with both players having been representing their nations at the team tournament in Australia.
Danielle Collins faces strong criticism for Iga Swiatek handshake
Swiatek lost to Coco Gauff in the opening match, but it was the pre-match actions of Collins that caught the eye of many disgruntled fans.
Collins was labelled “embarrassing” by one fan on X after visibly rolling her eyes following her handshake with Swiatek as the teams greeted one another before the opener.
A second fan said: “This is ridiculously immature from Collins. That’s why she gets pigeonised every time.”
Other disappointed fans commented: “Yeah you can’t buy class” and “This level of immaturity at her age especially is truly disgraceful.”
Further criticism for Collins arrived, with fans noting: “Another one-sided beef,” “She’s just ridiculous” and “Channeling her inner [Nick] Kyrgios.”
And another fan commented: “Cannot even get in the mindset of watching this and thinking it’s “iconic” or whatever. Iga isn’t even involved, it’s completely one-sided. Collins was weird and rude one time, and now she’s been weird and rude again. there’s no drama or beef, it’s just old woman yells at cloud.”
Journalist Jose Morgado then took exception to the Pole’s post-match meeting with Gauff at the net, writing on X: “A very unusual cold handshake from Iga Swiatek.”
What happened in the 2025 United Cup final between the USA and Poland?
Poland were looking for revenge in the 2025 United Cup final in Sydney, having lost the 2024 final 2-1 to Germany.
But they got off to the worst possible start, with Gauff edging past Swiatek 6-4, 6-4 in just under two hours.
A classic was then played out between Taylor Fritz and Hubert Hurkacz, with the American coming out on top 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(4) after over two hours of action.
It secured a 2-0 win for the USA, who have now won the United Cup for the second time in three editions, having also emerged victorious in 2023.
Group wins over Canada and Croatia in Perth set the USA on their way, with China and the Czech Republic on the receiving end of 3-0 defeats in the quarter-finals and semi-finals respectively before Poland were brushed aside.
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