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Iga Swiatek swats ball at ball boy during loss at Indian Wells

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports | By Larry Brown | Last updated Mar 15, 2025 8:40 PM ET

Iga Swiatek went off the rails on Friday night during her loss to Mirra Andreeva in the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, Calif.

Swiatek lost 7-6 (1), 1-6, 6-3 to the 17-year-old Andreeva, who moves on to face Aryna Sabalenka in the finals. Swiatek was frustrated during her loss and directed some anger towards a ball boy. After receiving a ball tossed to her by a ball boy to use on her serve, Swiatek whacked the ball hard down to the ground in front of the ball boy.

Iga Swiatek hitting ball at ball kid pic.twitter.com/DGdoIG6hc1
— Truth Enjoyer (@m0chul) March 15, 2025

Swiatek seemed to be looking at members of her team while doing that, so her anger may have been directed towards them, though it was taken out on the ball boy.

Swiatek complained to the chair umpire during the third set about the ball boys moving around while she was trying to return Andreeva’s serve.

No matter how you look at it, that is some terrible behavior from Swiatek. She was hoping to become the first woman to win the tournament for a third time but came up short. Swiatek has won at Indian Wells in 2022 and 2024, but there will be a different winner in 2025.

Swiatek is also continuing to lose likability lately.

In the last few months Swiatek failed a drug tests, negotiated a ban in instalments so that she didn't miss the WTA and BJK finals, didn't own up to a double bounce, tried to distract Madison Keys when about to serve, smashed rackets and now launched a ball towards a ball boy. pic.twitter.com/7Wu0PqmG59
— Pavvy G (@pavyg) March 15, 2025