Iga Swiatek Faces Australian Open Fans’ Wrath With Her Bizarre “Warmup” Act Mid-Match Against Madison Keys

Novak Djokovic and Iga Swiatek have a lot of things in common. Firstly, they are both multiple Grand Slam winners and secondly, both of them have a unique ability to find controversies out of nowhere. For example, just a few days ago we saw some of the tennis commentators mocking the Serb during his QF match against Carlos Alcaraz for using some tactics to break the Spaniard’s momentum in the match. Now, Iga Swiatek’s bizarre tactics during her match against Madison Keys gets severely criticized. What really happened, though?

Well, in Novak Djokovic’s case, we saw him taking a medical timeout at 4-5 in the first set and then we saw what happened in the next three sets. The Serb defeated the Spaniard by 4-6,6-4,6-3,6-4 to book a place in the SF. After seeing this we saw American tennis legend, John McEnroe suggesting that he thinks Djokovic faked an injury as a tactic during his QF match against Alcaraz. Previously, we’ve seen several tennis stars implementing multiple tactics to turn things around in their matches. Did Iga Swiatek take a medical timeout against Madison Keys? No!

However, interestingly, Iga Swiatek was seen practicing her warmup just before Madison Keys was about to serve. The incident took place right at the start of the third set. At that, things were well poised at 1-1 with Swiatek taking the first set by 7-5 and Keys taking the second one quite comprehensively by 6-1. After seeing this epic moment, some of the fans have come out in numbers to take a jibe at the Pole. Was it a tactic to stop Madison Keys rushing into the third set with all that winning moment from the second set? We don’t know, but some of the fans took a jibe at Iga Swiatek by saying, “HAVE SOME SHAME.”

Did that epic moment make any impact on the result of the match though? Well, unlike Novak Djokovic’s ‘tactics’, the Pole’s bizarre mid-match act didn’t help her pull things back on track in the next set. Reason? Well, Madison Keys has stunned the five-time Grand Slam champion in the SF of the 2025 AO. She defeated Iga Swiatek by 5-7,6-1,7-6(8) in this thrilling encounter at the Rod Laver Arena. This will be her first appearance at the final of the AO, while it will be her second overall Grand Slam final. So, this little controversial moment didn’t make much impact on this match, but still, fans have come out in numbers to showcase anger towards Iga Swiatek for that act.

Fans aren’t too happy with Iga Swiatek’s bizarre mid-match ‘warm-up’ during the SF of the 2025 A

Iga Swiatek was in the headlines in the last couple of weeks for two reasons. One was for her dominating performances in her previous matches and the second was for the recent controversy that took place during her QF match against Emma Navarro. In that match, during a crucial point in the second, we saw a controversial moment. Iga Swiatek was serving to hold advantage point (2-2) when she failed to reach a sliced drop shot executed by Navarro. The umpire failed to notice that the ball bounced twice in front of Swiatek and awarded her a point.

After seeing this, several fans came out in numbers to take a jibe at Iga Swiatek. Recently, after seeing this mid-match ‘warm-up.’ a set of fans have yet again turned up to hit back at the Pole. One of them wrote, “And when we complain about her gamesmanship, we’re the bad guys?.”

So, it seems as if controversies love following this tennis star. However, this isn’t the first time that her mid-match activities have gone under some real scrutiny from the tennis fans. For example, during the SF of the 2024 Cincinnati Open, Iga Swiatek fueled a bit of controversy with her extended toilet break. Her opponent, Aryna Sabalenka had then just won the first set by 6-3 and everyone thought it was just a tactic to break her opponent’s momentum. After seeing this incident in Melbourne during her match against Madison Keys one of them tweeted, “same old tactics but this ‘warmup’ is beyond oml.”

Speaking on her mid-match break, Iga Swiatek had said, “I tried to use that time to really try to think about what to change and do it in a good way.” Several fans had lashed out at her and accused her of unsportsmanshiplike behavior. Was this incident at the 2025 AO a similar thing? Was Iga Swiatek trying to buy a bit of time while thinking about what to change after losing the second set to Keys? Well, a few fans addressed the Pole and wrote, “She’s so shameless omg 😲.“

Who would have wondered if even doing warmups would also stir a bit of controversy? Well, doing this in the middle of a high-octane clash is really a bizarre thing! However, some of the fans found this moment quite funny! A few of them wrote, “she’s actually so funny.”

Taking about funny yet so controversial things featuring Iga Swiatek takes us back to 2022. Iga Swiatek was then forced to apologize over a questionable act that sparked backlash across the tennis world. It happened during her match against Donna Vekic in the final of the San Diego Open. The controversial moment came at break point in the sixth game of the second set when Iga Swiatek waved her arms in the air at the net in an apparent attempt to distract her opponent.

After seeing this moment, tennis journalist, Caitlin Thompson wrote, “Listen I like Iga, but waving your arms to distract your opponents while they’re hitting is sh-tty and she keeps doing it.” Did Iga Swiatek try to distract Madison Keys by doing those ‘warm-up’ things in the middle of the match? We don’t know! However, some of the fans said that it wasn’t “funny” at all! “Her fans see this and find it funny, but it is a huge lack of respect for the opponent in front of her. It is also the fault of the referees who are unable to tell her anything,” wrote a few.

With Iga Swiatek’s exit from the 2025 AO, we’re all set for yet another exciting battle between Aryna Sabalenka and Madison Keys in the epic final. Who do you think could win this epic battle at the Rod Laver Arena on Saturday?