World no.1 apologises for unsportsmanlike behaviour !!

Do you know who presently is   World no.1 in Women Tennis ?.  We grew up seeing and hearing the names of Chris Evert Lloyd, Virginia Wade,  Martina Navaratilova, Tracy Austin, Steffi Graf,  Monica Seles, Aranxta Sanches Vicario,  Venus Williams,  Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, Kim Clijsters,  Simona Halep,  Garbiñe Muguruza, shleigh Barty, Sofia Kenin  and who ____ ?  Never mind the couple of odd missing names !!  

San Diego is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. The city is known for its mild year-round climate, natural deep-water harbour, extensive beaches and parks, long association with the U.S. armed forces, and recent emergence as a healthcare and biotechnology development centre.

The 2022 San Diego Open was a combined men's and women's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts.  The event is part of the ATP Tour 250 series of the 2022 ATP Tour and a WTA 500 event on the 2022 WTA Tour. It was held at the Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego, United States, from September 19 through September 25, 2022 for the men, and from October 10 through October 16, 2022 for the women. The event was primarily organized being held on a second consecutive year in the alternative sporting calendar due to the cancellation of tournaments in China during the 2022 season because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the WTA's suspension of tournaments in China following former WTA player Peng Shuai's allegation of sexual assault against a Chinese government official.

 

Iga Natalia Świątek, from Poland is currently ranked world No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). Świątek is a three-time major singles champion, having won the French Open in 2020 and 2022 and the US Open in 2022. She is the first player representing Poland to win a major singles title. She has won 11 WTA titles. Świątek's father Tomasz is a retired Olympic rower. As a junior, Świątek was the 2018 French Open girls' doubles champion alongside Caty McNally and the 2018 Wimbledon girls' singles champion. During her French Open title run in 2020, Świątek did not lose more than five games in any singles match.   Świątek reached a career-high ranking of No. 2 on 21 March 2022. With the subsequent retirement of world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty, she claimed the top ranking on 4 April 2022.

She is in news as – the Women's' World No.1 has been forced to apologise over a questionable act that has sparked backlash across the tennis world.

Swiatek collected a staggering eighth title of the year after a 6-3 3-6 6-0 win over Croatia's Donna Vekic in the San Diego Open final. However, the victory has been overshadowed by an unsavoury incident that has seen fans accuse the Polish star of "cheating" and being "unsportsmanlike". The controversial moment came at break point in the sixth game of the second set when Swiatek waived her arms in the air at the net in an apparent attempt to distract her opponent. Vekic went on to win the rally after smashing a cross-court backhand winner to open up a 4-2 lead, but the incident did not go unnoticed by viewers.

Some fans claimed the World No.1 had form when it came to using the controversial tactic against her opponents, as the World No.1 faced the wrath of the tennis world on social media. “Listen I like Iga, but waving your arms to distract your opponents while they’re hitting is sh*tty and she keeps doing it,” tennis journalist Caitlin Thompson wrote. Other fans went as far as describing Swiatek's actions as "cheating".

For some, playing is all about winning !

With regards – S. Sampathkumar
18^th Oct 2022.