Fans Fumes at Iga Swiatek After Saying this to Mirra Andreeva

No. 2-ranked Iga Swiatek lost to a player younger than 18 for the first time on tour when she was stunned by Mirra Andreeva in the Dubai Championships quarterfinals Thursday.

Andreeva, 17, won 6-3, 6-3 to become the youngest semifinalist in Dubai’s 24-year history and reach the first WTA 1000 semi of her career.

Thursday’s loss for Swiatek follows a semifinal exit at the Qatar Open, a tournament she had won three straight years from 2022 to 2024.

“For sure it’s a calendar thing. We’re not going to be able to be consistent for many years playing week-by-week,” Swiatek told reporters when asked if playing back-to-back WTA 1000 tournaments was a tricky challenge. “Also it’s not like some time ago that outside of top-20 players, they were just getting destroyed more. Now anybody can win these tournaments. It is like that since a couple of years.”

Swiatek said her semifinal run at the Australian Open gave her less time to prepare for tournaments in the Middle East.

“I had the same kind of mindset as like every year. … But the preparation for sure was different,” she said. “Before, I lost in Australia early, so I had time to do some stuff. This year I didn’t. Honestly, I’m not that direct usually, but I would blame this performance on the lack of practice before because I didn’t have time.