Iga Swiatek is hurting women’s tennis by ‘wearing her hat so low,’ ESPN commentator Jimmy Arias claims: ‘I want to see her personality’
- The 22-year-old Iga Swiatek from Poland is currently the number 1 in the world
- But Jimmy Arias doesn’t believe she’s been great for the women’s game
- DailyMail.com provides all the latest international sports news
World No. 1 Iga Swiatek is harming women’s tennis by covering her face and eyes with her cap, according to Jimmy Arias.
“I want to see her personality,” said the former Men’s World No. 5, who now works as a commentator for ESPN.
Swiatek, 22, from Poland has won four Grand Slam titles since 2020 and is currently the top ranked player in the world.
But Arias, who reached a major semi-final as a player, claimed: “I don’t think she’s been great for women’s tennis.”
The 58-year-old said on the ‘Inside In’ podcast: ‘She wears her hat so low you can’t even see her face or her eyes during a game.
Iga Swiatek is accused of harming women’s tennis by wearing her cap too low
“So you don’t get as much connection as you could. I don’t mind her getting angry in any way, but I want to see her personality.”
It is not the first time that Arias, who stopped playing tennis in 1994, has dealt a blow to a top player in recent weeks.
The 58-year-old took aim at Nick Krygios due to the amount of time he spent outside the game.
“He has played once so far this year. I’m not sure if (his) wrist, knee (or) his tattoo hurts him too much – (from playing) Pokemon maybe. I don’t know,’ Arias said.
“The guy is so talented, he doesn’t really train, he doesn’t do all the things that are actually hard and make it hard. And he doesn’t seem to care, although he clearly does.’
Swiatek celebrates her victory at the BNP Paribas Poland Open in Warsaw on Sunday
Kyrgios hit back at Arias on social media. ‘Do you have a problem? Although I had no idea who you were before my buddy messaged me 10 minutes ago,” Kyrgios wrote.
“I’d appreciate it if you kept my name out of your mouth to keep you relevant… well, at least to give you some credibility.”
Swiatek was all smiles on Sunday after winning the Poland Open – her fourth title of the season and 15th of her career.
Swiatek defeated Germany’s Laura Siegemund 6-0 6-1 to secure the title in just 68 minutes.