Dubai Open: Defeated and frustrated Iga Swiatek throws racket away

Dubai Open: Defeated and frustrated Iga Swiatek throws racket away

Tennis star Iga Swiatek had an unusual moment of frustration during a surprise Dubai semifinal exit as the Pole threw her racket to the ground while down by a set and a break to Anna Kalinskaya.

What was expected to be another routine win for Swiatek, ended with a shock defeat after Kalinskaya upset the top-seeded Pole 6-4 6-4. Midway through the first set, Swiatek had a 4-2 lead before losing the next six games as Kalinskaya went on to open a 6-4 2-0 lead. After losing the first set and also getting broken in the first game of the second set, Swiatek threw her racket after a missed return in the second game.

The racket bounced off the court - didn't break - but Swiatek still received a code violation for racket abuse. While a player throwing a racket isn't something unusual in tennis, seeing Swiatek do that was a bit odd since the Pole rarely does that.

After the match, Swiatek - who won a WTA 1000 tournament in Doha last week and entered the Kalinskaya match riding a seven-match winning streak - revealed she felt tired against the Russian. Also, Swiatek admitted that she was "angry" over the loss.

"I mean I'm angry but on the other hand, there aren't many players that survive these kinds of tournaments so I just kind of have to let it go and accept it," Swiatek said after the loss.

"I would say the preparation was the best I could do anyway but I wasn’t able to make anything that made sense today on the court. Maybe I did in the first six games."

For Swiatek, the main thing now is to get some rest in the next couple of days and then arrive fresh in Indian Wells, which starts on March 6th.