Iga Swiatek is used to receiving criticism due to her status as world No.1 on the WTA Tour but one recent comment has baffled many.
An ESPN analyst and former top 10 player has hit out at the Pole for the way she wears her hat during matches and has claimed that it is bad for the sport. Jimmy Arias recently said on the Inside In podcast that it is hard to connect with the player during matches because she wears the hat so low that it hides her face. A questionable statement considering most of the time during matches fans look at the player’s hitting abilities instead of their face when points are being played.
“From my standpoint, I don’t think she’s been great for women’s tennis,” Arias said. “Because she wears her hat so low that you can’t even see her face or her eyes during a match, so you don’t get a connection as much as you could. I don’t mind her getting angry in some ways, but I want to see her personality.”
Swiatek has dominated women’s tennis in recent months and has been at the top of the WTA rankings continuously since April 4th 2022. Since the start of last season, she has won 12 Tour titles with three of them being at Grand Slam tournaments. Her most recent triumph occurred on Sunday when she won her first Tour trophy on home soil at the Warsaw Open.
Arias’ comment on Swiatek was blasted on social media by Nick Kyrgios who wrote on Twitter that it was ‘another horrible take.’ The 58-year-old has also recently taken a swipe at the Australian who said the schedule of the ATP Tour is ‘out of control’ and casted doubt on playing until the age of 33.
“I don’t know what he’s talking about when he says this schedule is out of control. He’s played one match this year. He seems to take every other year off, so he should be able to play for another 25 years,” Arias told the Tennis Channel.
“It’s just interesting to listen to him talk; let’s see what happens when he’s 33. But as we’re talking right now, I don’t know [if] he’s gonna play five more matches [this year]. He’s played once so far this year. I’m not sure [his] wrist, knee [or] his tattoo is hurting him too much [from playing] Pokemon maybe. I don’t know,” he added.
Arias is a former world No.5 player whose best Grand Slam performance was reaching the quarter-finals of the 1984 French Open. Three years before that he won the mixed doubles title at Roland Garros alongside Andrea Jager. Since retiring from the sport, he has worked in broadcasting and was an analyst for NBC Sports during the 2008 Olympic Games.
Swiatek has not publically commented on Arias’ remarks so far.
