Iga Swiatek has been attracting all sorts of attention during her run to the semi-finals in Cincinnati.
After a trophy laden clay court season the world number one has experienced a slightly more difficult summer.
Having suffered a premature exit at Wimbledon, Swiatek was hotly tipped to go the distance in the Paris Olympics.
In fact, the red carpet had more or less been rolled out and Swiatek’s name was already preparing to be enshrined into Olympic history.
However, after only securing the bronze medal, the Pole took a little while to warm up on the hard-courts.
A few close battles in Cincinnati remained punctured by a habit the world number one is gathering an unsavoury reputation for having.
Lindsay Davenport condemns Iga Swiatek’s ‘tactical’ bathroom breaks
Swiatek’s controversial win against Danielle Collins in Paris saw her take an extended bathroom break after she lost the second set.
A subsequent shift in momentum led Swiatek to victory and despite the backlash she received, it was a tactic she incorporated again in Cincinnati.
Coco Vandeweghe was joined by Lindsay Davenport on The Tennis Channel’s coverage of Swiatek’s match against Aryna Sabalenka, with the pair revealing their thoughts on Swiatek’s approach.
“It’s been spoken about, Iga’s tactic of going to the bathroom, changing her kit, taking her time, always after losing a set. If I was still playing, I would definitely be very aware of it — she’s trying to disrupt my rhythm,” Vandweghe said, in quotes reported by Tennis 365.
Davenport was of a similarly robust opinion: “It’s a bad habit that probably should start to be patrolled a little bit by the powers that be,” argued the American. “Lose a set, you leave the court — never used to be like that. But it happens every time.”
This week Swiatek has highlighted player welfare to the WTA, claiming that the schedule and amount of tournaments per year is becoming unsustainable – a point Chris Evert defended Swiatek for making.
It seems like Coco Vandeweghe has forgotten her own career?
It is actually almost laughable that Vandeweghe has decided to weigh in on an alleged lack of proper conduct on the tennis court.
The American was consistently implicated in drama during her time on the tour, notoriously refusing to allow her opponent to re-warm up after rain disrupted their match.
Swiatek has been at the top of the women’s game for years despite still only being 23.
With four French Open’s to her name already, as well as a US Open title, Swiatek is not acting outside of the current rules.
Players on both sides of the tour often take bathroom breaks during matches, indeed some deliberately to disrupt their opponents rhythm.
While perhaps the game could be played in better spirits, you don’t necessarily win a bucket full of titles by being overly generous.
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