True sporting greats often have their motivation fuelled by a belief that the world has an agenda against them, but criticism seems to have an alternative impact on Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek.
Basketball legend Michael Jordan confirmed he was inspired to silence his critics and the same story is true of soccer icon Cristiano Ronaldo and Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen.
Novak Djokovic has admitted on numerous occasions that he has been driven to silence doubters in the crowd or the media, but Swiatek has a very different personality and she takes criticism personally.
She was asking for the Polish media to treat her with more respect long before she tested positive in a doping test in August 2024 and that was the moment when an armoury of abuse was fully unleashed in her direction.
When it was revealed that she had tested positive for a banned substance after taking the sleeping drug melatonin, there was a mood of elation among some of her critics and that was especially the case on the often toxic social media platforms.
More Tennis News
Iga Swiatek moves above tennis great as WTA 1000 win rate improves at Canadian Open
The 5 biggest WTA Tour titles Iga Swiatek can add to growing trophy cabinet
Bad news seems to sell well when Swiatek is thrust into the spotlight and while she was ultimately proved to have done nothing wrong other than unwittingly taking a contaminated product, that has not stopped sniping suggesting she was lucky to win at Wimbledon at a time when she could have been banned from tennis.
Those making such claims do so without looking into her case, but Swiatek suggests she is used to such snipes as she has opened up on her emotional vulnerabilities in a series of interviews in recent months.
“For sure, the past months, how the media sometimes describe me – and I’ve got to say, unfortunately, Polish media, how they treated me and my team, it wasn’t really pleasant,” said Swiatek.
“I hope they will just leave me alone and let me do my job because obviously you can see that we know what we are doing, and I have the best people around me.
“I have already proved a lot. I know people want more and more, but it’s my own process and my own life and my own career.”
Questions over the relationship with her psychologist Daria Abramowicz have been among the more hurtful and there have also been numerous questions asked over what was perceived to be a failing relationship with coach Wim Fissette, who joined her team for the start of this season.
By her lofty standards, Swiatek’s form following her fourth French Open win in June 2024 through to her Wimbledon triumph last month was poor.
She went over a year without winning a title and looked out of sorts on her favoured clay courts, with a defeat against Aryna Sabalenka at the French Open ending her reign as the ‘Queen of Clay’ at Roland Garros.
Swiatek was forced to deny rumours she was set to take a break from tennis and skip Wimbledon before she roared back to top form to beat Amanda Anisimova 6-0, 6-0 in a one-sided women’s final at the All England Club.
Now she is closing in on a return to the No 2 ranking and is starting to rebuild the aura that was such a big part of her armoury before her fall from grace.
It is hard to understand why a legend of the game who has now won six Grand Slam titles and needs to win the Australian Open to complete the full set of major titles continues to attract so much negativity.
Yet those critics have been silenced for now by a champion who has emerged from her toughest year to highlight he class all over again.
READ NEXT: How Coco Gauff’s Canadian Open exit affects world No 2 battle with Iga Swiatek
The post Iga Swiatek’s army of snipers will be waiting for her to fail as this champion follows different rules appeared first on Tennis365.
Leave a Reply