Iga Swiatek rows with opponent after thundering serve against her body

Iga Swiatek infuriated Zheng Qinwen minutes before their quarterfinal singles match at the United Cup after the World No. 1 hit her Chinese opponent with a serve during warmups. The ball struck Zheng on her right wrist moments after she turned back around from talking to one of the ball kids off the court.

Swiatek, 22, reluctantly raised her right hand after acknowledging the impact before bending down to collect another ball. After realising that Zheng was still staring at her, the Polish player then raised two fingers off the ball in apology.

That led to her opponent holding her arms out by her side before indicating that the serve had struck her right wrist, the hand she plays with. Swiatek swiftly responded with another gesture as she exchanged words with Zheng before they both looked away and continued with their warmups on the baseline.

Once the match got underway, Swiatek wasted little time, winning in straight sets (6-2, 6-3) after just over an hour and a half of play. That win came after Hubert Hurkacz had beaten Zhang Zhizhen similarly convincingly (6-3, 6-2) and sent Poland into the semi-finals for the second straight year.