Iga Swiatek had a bizarre exchange with a reporter following her second-round singles win over Suzan Lamens on Thursday at the U.S. Open.
Swiatek, the No. 2 seed in this year’s women’s draw, was asked about her hair and if she would consider putting beads in it by a journalist in her post-match press conference.
The question appeared to be a reference to the beads that Naomi Osaka wears in her hair, but Swiatek had no interest in entertaining the inquiry and snapped back.
Iga Swiatek is asked in her press conference whether she would consider putting beads in her hair.
The world no.2 gives the question short shrift.
Tensions between Swiatek and the Polish media have been apparent for some time now pic.twitter.com/pyPdqf4P4W
— talkingtennis (@talkingtennis22) August 28, 2025
“What kind of question is that, excuse me? If I wanted to weave beads in my hair? No. What’s going on?” she responded.
The reporter walked out of the press conference room, and Swiatek was putting her head in her hands.
Iga Swiatek returns a shot during her three-set win over Suzan Lamens in the second round of the U.S. Open on Aug. 28, 2025. Getty Images
The interaction wasn’t the only back-and-forth she had with a reporter.
During questions in English, she was grilled by a reporter over whether she felt that the incident between Taylor Townsend and Jeļena Ostapenko on Wednesday exposed a double standard in sports.
“I can’t speak about every sport, because I don’t have enough knowledge, you know. We’re in this environment, we’re in the tennis world, we’re thinking about tennis mostly,” Swiatek answered. “But, you know, I think obviously the world’s changed throughout the years, and I know that there has been some issue yesterday, but honestly, I was so focused, I had [an] early match, so I wasn’t really — I’m not caught up on that. I’m probably going to catch up today.
Iga Swiatek pumps her fist after winning a point during her second round win over Suzan Lamens at the
U.S. Open Getty Images
“But you can’t really judge from a behavior of one person the whole community.”
The reporter continued to try and press Swiatek before the English portion of the availability came to an end.
Her win — 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 over Lamens — sends her to the third round of the tournament to face Anna Kalinskaya on Saturday.