"Ridiculous and disrespectful towards Iga Swiatek" - Fans furious at former Wimbledon finalist for making bold claim about Aryna Sabalenka & Pole

Former Wimbledon finalist Karolina Pliskova stirred controversy with a surprising remark about Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka after the former's Wimbledon victory. The Czech's comments didn’t go down well with fans, who slammed her for what they felt was an out-of-place statement.

Swiatek captured her first-ever Wimbledon title on July 12 with a commanding 6-0, 6-0 win over Amanda Anisimova in the final. Not only was it her maiden title on grass, but it was also a milestone she once doubted she’d ever reach.

Sabalenka, too, had a golden opportunity to claim her first title at SW19 but couldn’t capitalize. The Belarusian made it to the semifinals, where she was edged out by a red-hot Anisimova in a hard-fought three-set clash.

But according to Pliskova, things might have played out differently if Aryna Sabalenka had made it to the final against Iga Swiatek instead of Amanda Anisimova. During a conversation with her sister Kristyna and others on an episode of the Rakety podcast, Pliskova said:

"I think Sabalenka would have beaten Iga Swiatek in the final."

Fans quickly took to X (formerly Twitter) to share their thoughts, with one user writing:

"This coming from a tennis player and not some casual fan is just so ridiculous and disrespectful towards iga because judging by how aryna was playing (struggling against 37 yo siegemund) she definitely wasn’t gonna win against this version of iga in the final." "Will the ladies on tour ever stop with this nonsense?" amother asked.

One account posted:

"Oh….. girl…… how many slam titles do you have." "Sabalenka spent the entire tournament begging for her life, because in fact in the match with Siegmund she was almost out of the tournament, until Anisimova arrived, with the serve that Iga had throughout the tournament, it is more than certain that Iga would have won anyway," one account wrote. "Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't it the same lady who was world #1 and never won any Slam? Not to mentioned that the exact same person lost to Iga in Rome final 4 years ago by score. This sounds like trauma from the past but it's her problem not Iga," another joined in.

One user tweeted:

"Iga has given pliskova quite the beatdown over the years… sour grapes perhaps…. Again, who cares . Saba didn’t play well enough to make it to the final…. End of."

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Iga Swiatek once handed Karolina Pliskova a double bagel

Karolina Pliskova and Iga Swiatek pictured at the 2021 Italian Open | Image Source: Getty

Iga Swiatek and Karolina Pliskova have crossed paths on the court three times so far. They were supposed to face off five times, but two of those meetings (at the 2023 Dubai Tennis Championships and the 2024 Qatar Open) never happened as the latter gave walkovers.

Swiatek has dominated all three of her matches against Pliskova, claiming wins at the 2021 Italian Open, the 2023 Stuttgart Open, and the Canadian Open. Their meeting in Rome was particularly one-sided, with the Pole handing the Czech a crushing 6-0, 6-0 defeat, a scoreline identical to her Wimbledon final victory over Amanda Anisimova.

Pliskova also had her shot at Wimbledon glory back in 2021, when she reached the final for the first time in her career. However, luck was not in her favor as she fell short against then-World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty.

Edited by Pritha Ghosh