Swiatek-Collins off-court breaks turn heads, Navratilova recalls 'the old times'

Martina Navratilova expressed her disappointment with the long off-court breaks taken by Iga Swiatek and Danielle Collins during their clash at the Olympic Games. The 18-time Grand Slam champion compared both players to her own career, highlighting her pride in virtually never taking a break across more than 1,700 career matches.

The Swiatek-Collins encounter was arguably the most heated match of Paris 2024. The match ended with Collins retiring in the third set, with the score at 6-1, 2-6, 4-1 in favor of the five-time Grand Slam champion.

Navratilova slams extended off-court breaks

From the outset, things were tense on Court Suzanne Lenglen. In just the third game, Collins hit the World No. 1 with a powerful shot to the stomach, taking Swiatek a few seconds to recover. Later, Swiatek requested a bathroom break, and the American complained to the chair umpire about the time the Polish player took.

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Similarly, Collins took a medical timeout as she began to experience physical discomfort. Once the match concluded, Collins approached her opponent and was seen sharing some tense words with her rival: "I told Iga she didn't have to be insincere about my injury," the American later explained in a press conference.

Iga Swiatek at 2024 Roland Garros.

Social media erupted with comments supporting one player or the other in the conflict. Journalist Christopher Clarey criticized the long breaks taken by both players: "If we're keeping score for extended off-court breaks since the second set, it's now 1-1 between Iga Swiatek and Danielle Collins. This all seems far, far from ideal," he said.

Former World No. 1 Martina Navratilova joined the discussion on social media, responding to the tweet by mentioning her own career: "Guess how many times I went to the bathroom in my whole career in some 1,700 matches?" Navratilova said.

Christopher Clarey 🇺🇸 🇫🇷 🇪🇸

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If we're keeping score for extended off-court breaks since the second set, it's now 1-1 between Iga Swiatek and Danielle Collins This all seems far, far from ideal

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Martina Navratilova

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Replying to @christophclarey

Guess how many times I went to the bathroom in my whole career in some 1700 matches?

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Back in 2022, Clarey recalled the historic duel between Venus Williams and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in 1994, when the Spaniard took a long toilet break as a strategy to disrupt the 14-year-old, who was close to achieving an incredible victory against the World No. 2 at that time:

"Arantxa Sanchez Vicario weighs in on her unsympathetic portrayal in 'King Richard.' Says depiction of her as 'bad, super bad' when she was losing 2-6, 1-3 to 14-year-old Venus in her WTA debut event was 'totally incorrect.'

"We never took bathroom breaks back then and certainly not as a ploy," Navratilova responded.

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Arantxa Sanchez Vicario weighs in on her unsympathetic portrayal in "King Richard". Says depiction of her as "bad, super bad" when she was losing 2-6, 1-3 to 14-year-old Venus in her WTA debut event was "totally incorrect" marca.com/tenis/2022/04/…

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Martina Navratilova

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AFAIK, it didn’t happen at all. We never took bathroom breaks back then and certainly not as a ploy…

Christopher Clarey 🇺🇸 🇫🇷 🇪🇸

@christophclarey

Arantxa Sanchez Vicario weighs in on her unsympathetic portrayal in "King Richard". Says depiction of her as "bad, super bad" when she was losing 2-6, 1-3 to 14-year-old Venus in her WTA debut event was "totally incorrect" marca.com/tenis/2022/04/…

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