Iga Swiatek has been slammed for ‘dirty tactics’ during Thursday’s semi-final defeat to Madison Keys at the Australian Open tennis tournament.
Swiatek, seeded second in the women’s singles, was the favourite to progress but 19th-seed Keys conjured up a shock 5-7 6-1 7-6 victory.
There was a controversial incident at the end of the second set – with Swiatek called out for making Keys wait on her serve after the umpire had called time – with the Polish star seen shadow swinging to delay the match and escaping without a violation.
‘Swiatek’s dirty tactics are back,’ one fan @tennisooc posted on X. ‘She loses the set 6-1 and makes Keys wait on her to serve. Keys clearly not happy.’
‘Madison understandably was not impressed,’ @pavyg added. ‘Has there ever been a worst sportsmanship player than Iga Swiatek?’
After Keys hit an ace, @DanclawddPembs said: ‘That serve from Keys could not have been better after all that time wasting and disrespect from Iga!! Have some of that!!! Go Keys.’
‘Iga is truly despicable,’ @DjokerNole1Fan posted, before making reference to her failed drugs test. ‘I kept an open mind before.. Iga is a dirty and disgusting fraud. I wonder the next doping violation she’ll take to give her an edge over other opponents in the future.’
American star Keys, who is set to face defending champion and world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka in Saturday’s Australian Open final, says she feels like she ‘blacked out’ during her stunning win over Swiatek.
Swiatek served for the match at 6-5 in the third set and held match point -but Keys saved it – before breaking back and then recovering from 7-5 down in a tense tie-breaker to advance to her second Grand Slam final.
Speaking after the semi-final, Keys said: ‘I’m still trying to catch up to everything that is happening, I’m in the finals. That match was such high level and she played so well and I just felt like I was fighting to stay in it.
‘I then ran with the second [set] and the third was just a battle and to be able to be standing here and be in the finals is absolutely amazing and I’m so excited that I get to be here on Saturday.
‘I feel like even though I lost the first set, I was playing some better tennis at the end of it and that I had a little bit of momentum going into the second set. To be able to run with that second set and really just be able to settle was really nice.
‘In the third set it was so up and down and there were so many big points and break point chances that neither one of us got.
‘Did she have a match point? I feel I blacked out at one point and I was just there running around so just to be able to stay in it and stay fighting, and then a ten-point tie-breaker for an extra dramatic finish.’