Playing at the highest level in sports, there is hardly any margin for error. Ask Iga Swiatek, who suffered an embarrassing defeat against Aryna Sabalenka yesterday in the last-four clash of the Cincinnati Open. In an unfamiliar situation for the Pole, she lost in straight sets against an opponent against whom she has dominated of late. While Sabalenka was exceptional in her win, Swiatek seems to have come up with a strange reason to explain her poor performance in the semifinals.

In what has been a controversial season for tennis in terms of the playing conditions, the scheduling has come under a lot of scanner. Scenarios like extreme heat and unforeseen rains have caused a scheduling mess and affected the players big time. A similar issue with the playing conditions was highlighted by Swiatek after her defeat to Sabalenka.

Last week, one fan pointed out that the ball was hardly visible during the day matches at the Cincinnati Open, with the sun shining brightly. Sharing Swiatek’s expression as a meme to try and explain the point, the fan wrote, “Me trying to see the ball during the day matches in Cincy.” The tweet grabbed the attention of Iga Swiatek, who highlighted that she wasn’t able to see the ball properly during the match against Sabalenka. Swiatek replied to the fan, saying, “Yeah. Yesterday me too.”

Swiatek’s match against Sabalenka was played during the day session while the sun shone brightly. As a result, Swiatek found it difficult to judge the path of the ball, something which even the fan pointed out. But regardless of the conditions, it was to Sabalenka’s credit that she dominated Swiatek right throughout the match.

However, this isn’t the only reason pointed out by Swiatek for her dip in performance of late. She called out the WTA for hectic scheduling, which has affected the players, including herself.

Iga Swiatek: ‘It’s not going to end well’

The Pole has been a strong advocate against the poor scheduling of the tournaments and the matches and has often slammed the WTA for not caring about the players. During her Cincinnati campaign, she took another sly dig at the WTA, slamming the governing body for excessive tournaments during a season.

Iga Swiatek went on to say, “Well, what can I say? I’ve been kind of an advocate saying that we shouldn’t like, I don’t know, be pushing and pushing for us to play more. Obviously it’s not our decision but for sure, I think we have too many tournaments in the season. It’s not going to end well and it makes tennis less fun for us, let’s just say.”

Despite the shocking loss in Cincinnati, Swiatek remains a hot favorite to win the US Open title. The last Grand Slam tournament of the season begins in a few days and Swiatek will look to better her fourth-round finish last year.