Google News
Iga Swiatek hit Qinwen Zheng with a serve during warmup, which seemingly left the Chinese tennis star very annoyed with the Pole at the United Cup.
As Zheng was picking up some balls from a ball boy and turning back around, she was hit by a Swiatek serve. Zheng stopped - waved with her hands in disbelief - and looked in Swiatek's direction.
After noticing that Zheng was looking at her, Swiatek acknowledged the hit and apologized. But Zheng kept looking at Swiatek as she gestured to the Pole that she hit her directly in her right wrist - her playing hand. Swiatek responded with another gesture as she and Zheng exchanged some words before it all ended.
For all those who missed Iga hitting a tennis ball at full speed and aggressively towards Qinwen. And she didn't even apologise!
— Carlos Alcaraz is the GOAT (@GoatCaraz) January 3, 2024
I don't like the whole Pere Riba situation that has happened but violence is never the answer Iga!
In my opinion. https://t.co/wUenOtCIt6 pic.twitter.com/WyJWFvAmbQ
Zheng lost to Swiatek after being hit in the wrist during warmup
In the first match of the Poland and China quarterfinal tie, Hubert Hurkacz defeated Zhang Zhizhan to give Poland an early 1-0 lead over China at the United Cup. Following Zhang's loss, Zheng entered the Swiatek match in a must-win situation. Unfortunately for Zheng, she didn't manage to force a decider after Swiatek handed her a 6-2 6-3 loss.
Zheng, who is enjoying a career-high ranking of No. 14 in the world, actually made a good start to the match as she claimed an early break for a 2-0 lead. After a strong start to the first set, Zheng's game collapsed as Swiatek responded by earning three breaks in a row and winning six consecutive games to overturn the deficit and still fairly easily win the opener.
Swiatek then continued her run at the start of the second set, winning the first three games to open a 3-0 lead. Down by a set and a break, Zheng refused to quit as she managed to get the break back in the fifth game. After getting the break back, Zheng also saved five break points in the sixth game to level the set to three games apiece. Just when it seemed that Zheng was finding her game, Swiatek won the next three games to win the set and complete a two-set win.