Publishers of the 'Return' podcast have issued an apology after psychologist Dr. Ewa Woydyllo made offensive comments about Iga Swiatek, questioning her mentality and behaviour on the tennis court. Dr. Woydyllo claimed the six-time Major winner seemed "stupid" and "scared" during matches.
Backlash Forces Apology
The comments sparked major backlash, prompting publishers Trzeci Serwis to delete the episode and release a public apology. In a statement on Instagram, Trzeci Serwis said they had "mistakenly and very naively assumed" that the words spoken were solely the responsibility of the author.
"After your feedback and the media's reaction, we understood that we, in turn, are responsible for what content enters the tennis discourse and what level of discourse it maintains. In this respect, we lost 0-6, 0-6. We sincerely apologize to Iga Swiatek, her team, and all the fans," the statement read.
Psychiatrist's Comments
During the interview with Lech Sidor, Dr. Woydyllo suggested that Swiatek should pursue education, saying her motivation had faded. "If her motivation has faded, because she usually quits after the second match now, then the answer is simple. I suppose Iga should go to college now. She was a smart girl, and now she's unhappy," she claimed.
Dr. Woydyllo also referenced Swiatek's long-time psychologist Daria Abramowicz, saying, "It's not just Abramowicz sitting there, but also three or four men: her father, her sister. It's not that results don't matter to her. They do. When she loses, she's very sad, worried about herself, angry on the court. And she was a radiant, victorious tennis goddess."
Swiatek's Response
Swiatek, currently competing at the Canadian Open as the No. 7 seed, got off to a winning start, beating Sara Bejlek 6-0 6-3. She described it as "a good match, and a good start of the hard court season."
"The first set I was playing with a lot of confidence and very straightforward. Then, in second, parts of that were kind of the same as first. But there were for sure a few tricky games, especially the long one. I haven't played a game like that in some time, so I'm happy that I won it and I was solid at the end," she said.
