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Iga Swiatek left fuming in quarter-final controversy at US Open

Sam Goodwin
·Sports Editor
·4-min read
Iga Swiatek, pictured here clashing with the chair umpire during her quarter-final at the US Open.
Iga Swiatek clashed with the chair umpire during her quarter-final at the US Open. Image: ESPN/Getty

Iga Swiatek has clashed with the chair umpire in heated scenes during her quarter-final victory at the US Open.

The World No.1 was locked in a tense battle with Jessica Pegula during the second set of their last eight showdown on Wednesday when Swiatek was hit with a time violation.

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While it is normally the server who gets warned about falling foul of the shot clock, on this occasion Swiatek was the returner.

Pegula was ready to serve but was held up because Swiatek had gone to get her towel after a long rally.

The World No.1 wasn't happy when chair umpire Kader Nouni issued a time violation warning for making Pegula wait.

She walked towards the chair and threw her arms up in exasperation, saying "show me the rule."

The general rule of thumb is that the server dictates the pace of play and the returner must be ready when the server wants to commence the next point.

Fans and commentators were left taken aback by the drama for the usually unflappable Swiatek.

The World No.1's frustrations appeared to get the best of her despite winning the first set 6-3.

Swiatek and Pegula traded five consecutive breaks of serve each in the second set in a back-and-forth battle in which neither player managed to seize their opportunities.

However Polish star Swiatek finally managed to seal the match after it went to a tie-breaker, winning 6-3 7-6 (6-4) to advance to the semi-finals.

Swiatek broke serve seven times in the match, with Pegula breaking six times.

Iga Swiatek, pictured here not happy with the chair umpire in her US Open quarter-final.
Iga Swiatek was not happy with the chair umpire in her US Open quarter-final. (Photo by Corey Sipkin / AFP) (Photo by COREY SIPKIN/AFP via Getty Images) (COREY SIPKIN via Getty Images)

Aryna Sabalenka surges into US Open semi-finals

Aryna Sabalenka earlier reached the semi-finals for the second year running with victory over Karolina Pliskova.

The Belarusian, who was beaten by Leylah Fernandez in the last four 12 months ago, negotiated a close second set on Wednesday to defeat Pliskova 6-1 7-6 (7-4).

Sabalenka, who trailed Kaia Kanepi 6-2 5-1 in the second round before winning, will attempt to reach her first career grand slam final. She lost to Pliskova in the last four at Wimbledon last summer.

The 24-year-old was unable to play at Wimbledon this year because of the ban on Russian and Belarusian players, instead using the time to train in Miami.

Aryna Sabalenka, pictured here after her win over Karolina Pliskova at the US Open.
Aryna Sabalenka celebrates after her win over Karolina Pliskova at the US Open. (Photo by Diego Souto/Quality Sport Images/Getty Images,) (Quality Sport Images via Getty Images)

Having struggled horribly with her serve at the beginning of the year, hitting a huge numbers of double faults, Sabalenka appears to have fixed the problem.

Her serve worked very well, with the sixth seed not facing a single break point and hitting three times as many winners as Pliskova.

"Today I expected a great level," Sabalenka said in an on-court interview.

"I just tried to stay in this match as long as I can.

"Right now I'm not going for aces I'm just trying to put my serve on the big targets."

with AAP

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