Iga Swiatek was accused by Danielle Collins of being “insincere” after a tumultuous Olympic match on Wednesday that left the Polish player struggling to breathe after being dropped with a pile-driver backhand by the powerful American.
In a tense quarterfinal, Collins left the court for a medical timeout after trailing 1–4 in the final set.
Collins, 30, exchanged heated words with a shocked Swiatek when the two shook hands at the net.
“I told Inga she doesn't need to lie about my injury. My experience hasn't been very good and I don't think anyone needs to lie,” Collins said, without giving the exact reason for his anger.
“They can be who they are, and I can accept that, and I don't need to fake it.”
Swiatek said she was surprised by Collins’ criticism.
“I don't want to get involved because it's his last year on tour,” the top seed said.
“I didn't really get a chance to tell him that he had a great journey and that he played really well. So, I want to give him every respect I can.”
There was an anxious moment in the opening game of the third set when the powerful Collins hit a powerful backhand into Swiatek's body as she approached the net.
Swiatek tried to defend herself but still received a painful blow to the chest. She knelt down on the ground and moved on after catching her breath.
Ninth-ranked Collins immediately came to the net and apologized to Swiatek.
“I couldn't breathe for a while,” Swiatek said.
“I think because of the adrenaline on the court you don't feel those kinds of things as much. So I can get back into the game pretty quickly.”
Shortly after the exchange, Collins expressed her displeasure at the fact that Swiatek had grabbed her racket while preparing to serve, and claimed the fans were distracting her.
“There's nobody behind me … play at the server's speed,” Collins yelled at the pole.
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Swiatek, a four-time French Open champion, has now won 25 consecutive matches at Roland Garros and became the first Polish player to reach the last four in any Olympic tennis event.
She will face Zheng Qinwen of China for the gold medal.
Swiatek won the first set 6–1, followed by Collins winning the second 6–2 to advance to the quarterfinals.
Collins' challenge failed when he had to take a time-out after three games of the final set due to an off-court injury.
Two games later, in tears, the American retired from the game with an injury.
Collins said she had to play for three hours on Tuesday when temperatures reached 30 degrees Celsius, putting her at her physical limits.
“I had a heat stroke. When I came out of court I almost fainted and lay on the medical table for three hours,” she said.
“I couldn't get any cold water during the entire match. I didn't have insulated bottles. I was overheated. I was having cramps all over my body and somehow I was able to play doubles.”
“The conditions here are brutal. And I suffered the consequences last night and today.”
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