The Polish and the American brutally attacked each other in the post-match of their Olympic quarterfinal challenge
Paris Olympics quarterfinals of the women’s singles between the number 1 WTA Iga Swiatek and Danielle Collins ended with the withdrawal of the American tennis player with the score of 6-1 2-6 4-1 for the 2024 champion of Roland Garros.
But it was a high-tension match between the toilet break of the number 1 in the world, a ball to the side of Swiatek thrown by Collins (who nevertheless apologized), then for a medical time out requested this time by Danielle shortly before retiring.
And above all, for what happened at the moment of Collins’ withdrawal and during the handshake. Collins was the one to clarify the contents of the dialogue at the end of the match, in a press conference, in fact claiming that the Polish player behaves in one way in front of the cameras while in the locker room the WTA No.1 behaved in a rather different way.
“I told Iga that she shouldn’t be insincere about my injury. A lot of things happen in front of the camera, there are people who behave one way in front of the camera and another way in the locker room. Everyone can be what they want. But I don’t need falsehoods,” said Collins.
But Iga Swiatek doesn’t agree and explained that she didn’t say anything and was just trying to wish her a speedy recovery especially after the medical time out.
Swiatek explained: “I won’t discuss it, because I have never done anything unpleasant to her. I just wanted to congratulate her on her successful career, because we all know that this is her last year. Usually during tournaments, when we go out and have time to change, we are entitled to 5 minutes. Here I asked the lady who accompanied me how much time I had. She replied that here they don’t count the time. So I used the time to change and freshen up, and then I went back on the court. I honestly didn’t know how much time had passed, but I didn’t do anything against the rules.”
Surprising first two sets, with Iga dominating the first set and the American tennis player reacting in a big way by winning the second set. When the challenge seemed surprisingly changed, Iga asked for a toilet break, breaking the rhythm of her opponent (perhaps this was her real goal), then the challenge continued. In the third set Collins hits Iga at the net, shooting at her and hurting her quite a bit, then she checks her condition and after a few games the match ends. A particular challenge, which however continued even after the match.
Without Sabalenka, Gauff and Rybakina – who out for withdrawal, and who for defeat – the Polish tennis player has a great chance of giving the gold medal to her country, a result that would be truly historic and that would contribute even more to celebrating the history of Iga Swiatek. In the semifinals Iga will face the Chinese Qinwen Zheng, while in the other match Schmiedlova and the Croatian Donna Vekic will face each other, the protagonist of a beautiful victory in a battle against the Ukrainian Kostyuk.
— Bastien Fachan (@BastienFachan) July 31, 2024
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