Tennis pundit claims WTA superstar Iga Swiatek is too sensitive

The Pole's statement, in which she addressed her behavioural change, came after she was seen forcefully hitting a tennis ball in the direction of a ball boy during her loss to Mirra Andreeva at the WTA 1000 event at Indian Wells.

Corretja, who is a former world No. 2 and two-time Roland Garros finalist, gave his verdict on Swiatek's honest and lengthy admission.

"It makes me feel sorry for her, because she's a lovely girl," said the Eurosport pundit.

"She's a great player, but she's also very sensitive. You can feel that she suffers from everything that is said about her. And I totally understand how she feels.

"I support her because I think she is a whole and sincere person. I think it's good that she talks about it publicly like that, that she says how she feels."

The Indian Wells incident, as well as a handful of other occasions, have drawn harsh criticism from tennis fans towards the former world No. 1.

"Everyone talks and judges too quickly, but who are we to judge?" asked Corretja.

"How do we measure what is happening in the lives of the players? We watch tennis matches, but we don't know what's going on behind them, what they're going through.

"Iga has had to go through a lot, she went through a very difficult time last year. But the fact that she talks like that, that she is open, says a lot about her."

After her loss to Andreeva at the Indian Wells event, Swiatek decided that enough was enough and that she must express her internal feelings.

"First, about the incident during my last match. It's true - I expressed frustration in a way I'm not proud of," she wrote on Instagram.

"My intention was never to aim the ball at anyone but merely to release my frustration by bouncing it on the ground.

"I immediately apologised to the ball boy, we made eye contact, and nodded to each other when I expressed regret that it happened near him.

"I've seen many players bounce balls in frustration, and frankly, I didn't expect such harsh judgments. Usually, I control such impulses, so half-jokingly I can say I lack experience in this and misjudged my aim in the heat of the moment."

The Pole went on to explain how her failed doping test in August - for which she was suspended for one month - also deeply affected her: "The second half of last year was extremely challenging for me, especially due to the positive doping test and how circumstances completely beyond my control took away my chance to fight for the highest sporting goals at the end of the season.

"This forced me to rearrange certain things within myself. In Australia, after weaker performances in previous years, I played without expectations, and focused solely on my work, accepting that another Australian Open might not go my way regardless of my efforts.

"Thanks to this mindset, I performed very well and was close to reaching the final.

"In the Middle East, however, it struck me hard that my positive test result case, missing two highly-ranked tournaments in October, and last year's exceptional results (winning four 1000-level tournaments and a Grand Slam in the first half of the season) will keep affecting my ranking and basically take away my chance for No. 1."

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