Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek is at the center of the latest racially-charged US Open incident after snapping at a reporter’s bizarre question about her hair.
The Polish star, the World No. 2 and a previous US Open champion in 2022, was talking to the media after recording her second-round victory over Suzan Lamens in New York.
Swiatek, 24, had just faced questions about the racism storm surrounding Jelena Ostapenko, when another question came in from a Polish reporter, asking if she would wear beads in her hair like her rival Naomi Osaka does.
The tradition has deep roots in African culture and was made famous by Serena and Venus Williams at the height of their record-breaking tennis careers.
Swiatek was visibly shocked at the comment, saying: ‘What kind of question is that? Excuse me? If I wanted to weave beads in my hair? No. What’s going on?’
The bizarre moment from the unnamed journalist is not the first racially-charged incident to have occurred at the US Open this year and fans quickly took to social media to slam the man in question.
Iga Swiatek looked baffled when a reporter asked her if she was going to put beads in her hair
Serena and Venus Williams were famous were wearing beads in their hair at the height of their careers (they are pictured at the French Open in 1998)
One wrote: ‘What the heck was the reporter trying to do? Catch her saying yes and accuse her of culture appropriation or have her say no and label her as racist?’
Another claimed it was clear Swiatek ‘felt uncomfortable’ having to deal with the odd question, and another claimed players should not have to face the media immediately after coming off court.
The US Open has become embroiled in controversy in recent days, after fellow female pro Ostapenko was accused of racism after she confronted American Taylor Townsend at the end of their match.
After Townsend had won in straight sets, Ostapenko approached her at the net and told her she has ‘no education and no class’, which some took as a racially-charged comment about the American’s upbringing.
Ostapenko – who is Latvian and a former French Open champion – quickly took to social media to refute claims of racism, writing: ‘I was NEVER racist in my life and I respect all nations of people in the world, for me it doesn’t matter where you come from.’
In her post-match press conference, Townsend was then asked if she believed there was any racial undertones to Ostapenko’s comments.
Jelena Ostapenko has been embroiled in a racism storm after her ‘no education’ comments
Swiatek had just come off court after her latest win but was left disgruntled by the questioning
‘That’s something that you’re going to have to ask her,’ she said. ‘I didn’t take it in that way, but also that has been a stigma in our community of being not educated and all of the things when it’s the furthest thing from the truth.’
The American continued: ‘I can’t speak on what her intentions were… saying I have no education and no class, I don’t really take that personally, because I know that it’s so far from the truth…. whether it had racial undertones or not, that’s something she can speak on.’
Townsend added that she is ‘very proud as a Black woman being out here representing myself and representing us and our culture. I make sure that I do everything that I can to be the best representation possible every time that I step on the court and even off the court.’
Meanwhile, Swiatek – the subject of the latest bizarre US Open press conference moment – has been unhappy with coverage in her homeland, and specifically the scrutiny placed on her relationship with her psychologist, Daria Abramowicz.
After Swiatek won Wimbledon earlier this year, she hit out at stories scrutinizing her team and demanded more respect from reporters following her career.
Previously, Swiatek has been unhappy at scrutiny over her psychologist, Daria Abramowicz
Swiatek’s rival, Naomi Osaka, wore beads in her hair during the first round of the tournament
‘We as public people and as athletes, we can’t really react to everything going on,’ she said. ‘We’ve got to focus on ourselves.
‘Obviously sometimes it’s easier to do that, sometimes it’s harder. 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.
‘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.’
Back in March, Polish publication Interia Sports published an interview with another leading sports psychologist, Dariusz Nowicki, who said Swiatek’s relationship with Abramowicz was ‘disturbed’.
‘If we were to look at this relationship only and exclusively from the point of view of strictly psychological workshop, then it is indeed a disturbed relationship, in which certain boundaries of professional distance between the psychologist and the client are crossed,’ he said of their friendship.
Swiatek won WImbledon earlier this year and at 24 has won eight Grand Slam singles titles
‘A certain psychological distance in relation to the client, who is the athlete, or in general to the training team, which is with the athlete or team, is essential.
‘Someone in this group must maintain some common sense and emotional self-control, and the psychologist should be such a person the most.’
His comments came after Swiatek was criticized for slamming a ball in the direction of a ball boy – and her team – during her Indian Wells loss in March to teenager Mirra Andreeva.
Swiatek, who was won eight Grand Slam singles titles so far in her illustrious career, returns to US Open action on Saturday against Anna Kalinskaya.
