Iga Swiatek responds to criticism after incident with ball boy at Indian Wells

Swiatek said the past few months have been ‘extremely challenging’ as the world No 2 criticised the ‘constant judgement’ around her

Swiatek was surprised to receive ‘such harsh judgements’ (Getty Images)

Iga Swiatek said she did not expect to receive “such harsh judgements” after almost hitting a ball boy at Indian Wells.

The world No 2 smashed a ball into the ground in frustration during her Indian Wells semi-final defeat to Mirra Andreeva on Friday, narrowly missing a ball boy who was standing at the back of the court.

Swiatek, 23, explained that she immediately apologised to the ball boy and was surprised by the reaction to the incident.

The five-time grand slam champion took to Instagram and explained her emotions in a in a lengthy post, which she said was aimed to “stop the speculation and baseless theories”.

"It's true – I expressed frustration in a way I'm not proud of,” Swiatek said. “My intention was never to aim the ball at anyone but merely to release my frustration by bouncing it on the ground.

"I immediately apologised to the ball boy, we made eye contact, and nodded to each other when I expressed regret that it happened near him.

"I've seen many players bounce balls in frustration, and frankly, I didn't expect such harsh judgements. Usually, I control such impulses, so half-jokingly I can say I lack experience in this and misjudged my aim in the heat of the moment."

Swiatek lost to Andreeva, 17, in the semi-finals (Getty Images)

The world No 2 also criticised “unhealthy standards” and “constant judgement” as the Polish player opened up on her one-month suspension after testing positive for the banned substance trimetazidine (TMZ).

Swiatek accepted the ban in November after finding her medication to combat jet leg had been contaminated and said that the past few months have been “extremely challenging”.

She wrote: "When I'm highly focused and don't show many emotions on court, I'm called a robot, my attitude labelled as inhuman. Now that I'm more expressive, showing feelings or struggling internally, I'm suddenly labelled immature or hysterical.

“That's not a healthy standard — especially considering that just six months ago, I felt my career was hanging by a thread, spent three weeks crying daily, and didn't want to step on the court.”