LIVE
...

Follow us on

News

Iga Swiatek has angry exchange with journalist in press conference following her French Open exit

Photo by Robert Prange/Getty Images
Photo by Robert Prange/Getty Images
Follow us on Google Discover

Iga Swiatek has bowed out of the French Open after losing her semi-final to Aryna Sabalenka at Court Philippe-Chatrier.

WTA number one Sabalenka now meets Coco Gauff in the final of the French Open, having beaten Swiatek 7-6(7-1), 4-6, 6-0.

Tim Henman couldn’t believe Swiatek’s final set, with the defeat ending her 26-match winning run at Roland Garros.

She has won the last three French Open titles, and four of the last five, with a new clay court Grand Slam champion now set to be crowned.

Sabalenka is into her first final in Paris, while Gauff is competing in her second after losing the 2022 final to Swiatek.

2025 French Open - Day Twelve
Photo by Andy Cheung/Getty Images

Iga Swiatek has angry exchange with journalist after French Open exit

Swiatek will take a few days off after her latest Grand Slam exit, but she certainly wasn’t relaxed when speaking to the press following the defeat to Sabalenka.

She had an angry exchange in her native Polish, which started when the journalist asked: “It’s hard to ask something after a match like that because it is probably one of the strangest matches you played here.

READ MORE: CoCo Vandeweghe saw Iga Swiatek do something which was ‘so worrying’ during her loss to Aryna Sabalenka at Roland Garros

“Do you have the impression that if this match had gone similar to Sunday’s match with [Elena] Rybakina, that is if you had lost the first set heavily and picked yourself up like that match, we are wondering if that is the reason why the third set got away from you so quickly. Is it a matter of the rival or a matter…”

Interjecting, Swiatek asked: “What kind of question is that?” with the journalist replying: “The question is what happened in the third set?”

The WTA Tour star then responded: “What next time I should lose 6-0 in the first set because of that theory?”

In response, the journalist noted: “No, no. Of course, I am joking. It just seems to me that the first set cost you a lot of emotions.”

Swiatek questioned back: “But just a second. Is there a problem that I fought in the first set and extended the match?”

2025 French Open - Day Twelve
Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images

The journalist responded saying: “No, no,” with an irritated Swiatek then asking: “So what is the question?”

She was told: “The question is how did this match differ from Sunday’s with Elena Rybakina?” to which she replied: “Practically everything.”

Aryna Sabalenka gets Grand Slam revenge on Iga Swiatek at French Open

Swiatek fought back superbly to take the second set against Sabalenka, having only narrowly lost the first.

But the world number one lived up to that ranking to ultimately win their battle after two hours and 19 minutes.

READ MORE: What Aryna Sabalenka is really like behind the scenes on the WTA Tour, ‘you see that when you are around the players’

2025 French Open - Day Twelve
Photo by Robert Prange/Getty Images

That arrived just a few days after Swiatek had knocked Rybakina out in the fourth round, having come from behind to win their match 1-6, 6-3, 7-5.

But the journalist should have realised that no two matches are the same, and Sabalenka is currently on an entirely different level to almost the entire WTA Tour.

ResultYearTournamentSurfaceOpponentScore
Win2020French OpenClaySofia Kenin6–4, 6–1
Win2022French OpenClayCoco Gauff6–1, 6–3
Win2022US OpenHardOns Jabeur6–2, 7–6(7–5)
Win2023French OpenClayKarolina Muchova6–2, 5–7, 6–4
Win2024French OpenClayJasmine Paolini6–2, 6–1
Win2025WimbledonGrassAmanda Anisimova6-0, 6-0
Iga Swiatek Grand Slam finals

The Belarusian now boasts 40 main draw wins of the 2025 season, while she has won her last five Grand Slam semi-finals.

Top two Sabalenka and Gauff now go head-to-head at Court Philippe-Chatrier, with their head-to-head perfectly poised at 5-5.

Sabalenka and Swiatek meanwhile have just played out only their second Grand Slam meeting on the WTA Tour.

And the Belarusian exacted revenge on the Pole this time around, with Swiatek having defeated Sabalenka in the 2022 US Open semi-finals on her way to lifting the trophy.