Iga Swiatek refuses to shake hands with coach Wim Fissette after Dubai heartbreak

Iga Swiatek suffered a shock 6-3, 6-3 defeat to 12th seed Mirra Andreeva in the quarterfinals of the Dubai Tennis Championships on Thursday (February 20). Following her exit, she, it seemed, refused to shake hands with coach Wim Fissette.

Swiatek hired Fissette in October last year after ending her partnership with Tomasz Wiktorowski. But the five-time Grand Slam champion is yet to clinch her first title under the Belgian coach. She is still searching for her trophy since winning her fourth French Open last year.

Swiatek also hasn’t yet progressed to the final since last year’s French Open. Before Dubai, she succumbed to a straight-set defeat to Jelena Ostapenko in the Qatar Open and was knocked out by eventual champion Madison Keys in the semifinal of the Australian Open.

Mirra Andreeva reveals how she beat Iga Swiatek
Iga Swiatek faced Mirra Andreeva for the second time in her career, following their quarterfinal meeting in last year’s Cincinnati Open, which the Pole had won in three sets. Andreeva, after becoming the first player under 18 to triumph over the 23-year-old, revealed the mindset that helped her to eliminate the World No.2.

With this win, Andreeva became the youngest woman to reach the semifinals in Dubai. She has now progressed to her second semifinal in the WTA 1000 level or above after last year’s French Open.

The teenager is also the youngest player to record five top-10 wins since 2007. Andreeva is bidding to reach her second WTA final following the 2024 Iasi Open.

The Russian ace, who is chasing her first title of the season, is scheduled to lock horns with World No.7 Elena Rybakina in the semifinals on Friday (February 21). It will be their second encounter on the tour following the 2023 China Open fourth round, where the Kazakh ace clinched the win in three sets.