'I don't think that was fair': Iga Swiatek blasts favouritism after French Open loss against Aryna Sabalenka

Iga Swiatek was not very happy following her loss at the French Open to Aryna Sabalenka. The Polish-born 24-year-old made a bitter remark in her post-match interview, unleashing her frustrations over the umpire, whom Swiatek claimed was favouring her opponent.

Swiatek, who had won the previous three editions of the French Open, saw her reign come to an end after a 7–6, 4–6, 6–0 defeat to world number one Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-finals at Roland Garros on 5 June. Swiatek had entered the French Open off the back of some less-than-ideal form, however, she dropped just one set en route to the semi-finals, where she ultimately met her match.

The encounter began with a tense tiebreak set win for Sabalenka, setting the tone for what many expected to be a closely fought contest. Although Swiatek rallied in the second set to level the match, there would be no stopping Sabalenka in the decider. The Belarusian dominated the final set, ‘bagelling’ her opponent 6–0 to claim victory and end the title defence of the back-to-back-to-back champion.

Drama started in the second set with the scores at 4-2 when Sabalenka hit a long serve that was out, but the call was missed by the umpire. Swiatek had to call over Kader Nouni (umpire) to come and see the ball mark. She was denied this request as the umpire argued the time taken to decide she wanted to review her decision was too long, and it was also the incorrect spot, so play continued. Hawkeye would later confirm Swiatek was correct in her assumption, which did not help in the long run and more than likely part-fuelled her post-match comments.

Swiatek was not in the mood to let things be left on the court as she would explain in further detail after the match her thoughts on the situation

“He was coming down to check every mark when Aryna (Sabalenka) wanted to, even when the outs were like that (gestures)".

“When I had a mark that was out, he was convincing me that I only came there because I saw that my return was out, and I framed the return. I knew from the beginning that it's going to be out, you know".

“I didn't really look at the ball. I just went to check the mark, and I saw the mark was out. I want him to come down, but he didn't. So I don't think that was fair, especially when he came down like every time Aryna asked him to. I don't get it, but I don't really care".

Swiatek will be looking to return to the French Open next year and regain her crown at Roland Garros. Aryna Sabalenka looks to win her first-ever French Open in her first final appearance at Roland Garros.