Iga Swiatek has admitted she feels threatened by the abuse flowing her way online, as she opened up in his latest US Open press conference.
The Pole, gunning for a second title at Flushing Meadows, dropped just one game as she dispatched Ena Shibahara 6-0 6-1 in 65 minutes.
Only three players (Margaret Court – 11, Maria Sharapova – 8, Evonne Goolagong – 8) have registered more sets of 6-0 score line from their first 22 matches in women’s singles at US Open than Swiatek (7) during the Open Era, with her status a favourite to win a second title in New York strengthened by her dominant win against Shibahara.
Yet it was her comments in her post-match press conference that may have been her most significant contribution to the game, as she spoke about the impact online abuse can have on her.
Swiatek insisted she doesn’t follow all the abusive messages flowing her way on social media, but the level of venom coming her way does occasionally get through.
“I’m only kind of seeing the messages from my close ones, the ones that I already accepted, but for sure there is a lot of hate,” she said, suggesting her social media feeds are restricted to messages from approved followers.
“It would be nice if we can try to educate people and also maybe in the future have some solutions as, you know, using Al to make it safer for us.
Because I feel like we can’t be on the internet and feel like kind of safe anymore. You have to really be careful about what you’re reading and who you’re following.
“I know that there are some tools that, for example, Roland Garros offered for us, like this app that we can have on the phone, and it’s going to block the hateful messages.
“My team also has been kind of looking in my case what kind of messages have been blocked or not when we’re using this app. It would be nice if we had more opportunities to use these kind of tools because it’s always some kind of help.”
Swiatek will doubtless avoid the social media barbs as she looks towards the second week of the US Open and she is excited by her form heading into the business end of the tournament.
“I was just happy with the way I played, not overpowering and being really solid and picking the right shots to be reactive, I am happy with everything,” said Swiatek.
“I felt in much better rhythm. I was a bit tense in my last match. I just wanted to focus on myself and that’s what I did.”
The withdrawal of No 4 seed Elena Rybakina from the US Open due to illness could have an impact on Swiatek as she was due to meet her old rival in the semi-finals in New York.
Swiatek will now play Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the third round, with American Jessica Pegula the most threatening player in her section of the draw.
