Tennis star Iga Swiatek slammed for smashing ball at ball kid during meltdown: Poor sportsmanship
Iga Swiatek is at it again.The polarizing former world No.1 was booed by spectators on Saturday before she was eliminated by rising star Mirra Andreeva in a blockbuster semi-final at Indian Wells.The clay court queen had been riding high on a 10-match winning streak at the Californian tournament and was chasing an unprecedented third Indian Wells title, but she was stunned by her 17-year-old opponent 7-6 (7/1), 1-6, 6-3 in an encounter that turned spiteful.With the match slipping away from her in the third set, a visibly frustrated Swiatek complained to the chair umpire about what she claimed was movement from ball kids from behind her when she was preparing to receive Andreeva’s serve.Minutes later the Polish star lost the plot when she was thrown a ball by a ball boy only for her to turn and smash the ball back at him at the back of the court.The ball kid managed to lift his arms in time as the ball narrowly missed him before shooting into the crowd.Taken aback by Swiatek’s furious outburst, the crowd responded with a wave of boos.The crowd had already been cheering against the five-time grand slam champion and the support for Andreeva rose again after Swiatek’s ugly act.Swiatek, the four-time Roland Garros champion, has a long list of prior acts of poor sportsmanship and Saturday’s outburst has only added to the general dislike of her around the globe.Swiatek has also been widely criticised for the circumstances behind a one-month suspension she was handed after testing positive to a banned substance.Video of the ball boy spike has gone viral with hundreds of thousands of views on X.The incident was highlighted by tennis analyst Pavvy G on X with the social media commentator highlighting Swiatek’s previous poor behaviour.“In the last few months Swiatek failed a drug tests, negotiated a ban in instalments so that she didn’t miss the WTA and BJK finals, didn’t own up to a double bounce, tried to distract Madison Keys when about to serve, smashed ra...