Iga Swiatek’s US Open campaign came to a screeching halt last night, beaten by Amanda Anisimova in comprehensive fashion.
It was an enthralling, big-hitting affair between two of the sport’s best.
And, nearly three months on from their last meeting in the Wimbledon final, the script was well and truly flipped by the American in front of her home crowd.
Alas, it is Iga Swiatek who has stolen the headlines in the aftermath, having drawn intrigue with the way in which she responded to a question in her US Open press conference.
Iga Swiatek’s awkward press conference answer after Amanda Anisimova defeat
The moment was shared between David Law and the player, with the reporter starting off the exchange by asking: “Just generally, it’s been a lot of tennis the last few weeks: Wimbledon, the American tournaments leading up to this, and now this. How tired are you at the moment?”
She initially responded: “Well, I don’t know. It’s not like my matches were exhausting here.”
Law then sought to pivot, clarifying by adding: “Do you feel like a mental break? I’m not talking about the loss as such.”
This did not go down well with Swiatek, who gave a confused expression before asking: “Why would you say that?”
After explaining that the question related to how much tennis she had been playing, and if she might need a break after all that, the player then stated: “Well, talk to people responsible for the schedule. Do you need a mental break? You look like you need a mental break.”
Law agreed, to which Swiatek then asked: “Well, then what are you doing here?”
“Got to get to the end of the tournament,” Law remarked, before Swiatek wished him good luck. A frosty exchange, for which we now have the explanation.
In the same press conference, Swiatek pointed out what was different about Anisimova compared to their Wimbledon final. Her answer was insightful, unlike this spiky exchange.
Iga Swiatek criticised for her response at US Open press conference
After all, as one of three key pundits of The Tennis Podcast, Law then emerged later in the night to explain his awkward encounter with Swiatek.
He claimed: “I didn’t want to put her on the spot of thinking, oh, ‘if I say yes to that, I look like I’m blaming the loss on that’, but I just genuinely was curious. You know, how tired do you feel right now?
“It’s like when we reach the end of these tournaments. It’s been great. We’ve done well, but, oh, my God, I need to just go and switch off. And I need to not look at another microphone for how many days and have a rest.
“So I asked her How tired do you feel right now? And she sort of pondered on it for quite a few seconds without saying anything. She said, I haven’t played many long matches.”
Catherine Whitaker, his host, added: “She interpreted it in an entirely physical way, didn’t she?”
Law then continued: “I think hearing that, I sort of tried to change direction and point out, well, my intention was to say, well, don’t we just need, like, a holiday? And just to switch off from tennis for a while, like those other players do. I didn’t phrase it like that. I said, Do you maybe need a mental break?
“I mean, do you need a sort of break from it all, is what I was trying to trying to get at, and I don’t think she took it in quite that way that I intended, which I understand, I think maybe that wording wasn’t ideal and and she bristled at it, and we, you know, it was a little awkward, to be honest.
“And, you know, you may have read about that and heard about it, but that’s what happened, and that’s certainly what my intention was when I asked the question, is do you need to go on holiday now? And I perhaps should have said that, but there we are.”
Whitaker, however, was not best pleased with Swiatek’s conduct, and criticised the frostiness of her response: “And she perhaps shouldn’t have been so rude to you in response, because she was rude. She was rude, it was extremely uncomfortable… And it was unnecessary. I know you can handle it.”
Law, however, sympathised with her, concluding: “But also, I do get it as well from her perspective.
“That phrasing, perhaps not being ideal and also, you have just lost a very important match that means a lot to you. And also, you have just played all this stuff and you probably do need a bloody holiday, in all honesty! So there we are.”
