Iga Swiatek reveals her recent social media letter was mostly directed at Polish people as she wanted to point out some things and hopefully see a change in how she gets treated and supported back home.
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After failing to end her title drought during the Middle East swing - which has usually been a happy hunting ground for the world No. 2 - she also failed to defend her Indian Wells title after losing to Mirra Andreeva in the semifinal. During the third set of that match, the 23-year-old let the frustration get the better of her at one moment as she hit a ball in frustration and nearly struck a ball kid.
Following the match, Swiatek wasn't only criticized and scrutinized for another loss in the latter stages of a tournament but her behavior and actions were also questioned.
In a note posted on Instagram, the 23-year-old lamented that when she is too focused and not showing too many emotions, she gets called "robotic." But when she airs something out, she gets slammed as "immature and hysterical."
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Swiatek: I wanted to let know my people that it wasn't the perfect way to support me
I explained why my frustrations were a bit higher in the past month. Its a bit hard for me to say because during a tournament Im not checking what is happening on the internet, but for sure, in Poland it is not easy sometimes, the five-time Grand Slam winner told Sky Sports.
Abroad people have much more distance to what is going on with players and athletes overall. But at home they like to focus on every little thing that went wrong and I want them to know that this is not the perfect way to support me.
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Meanwhile, Swiatek is off to a good start at the Miami Open, where she routinely made it past her opening two matches to set up a round-of-16 matchup against Elina Svitolina.
