Iga Swiatek has defended herself after a controversial moment at the Indian Wells Open in which she almost struck a ball boy.

While Swiatek is not proud of her actions, the Pole believes she is held to unfair standards.

During her semi-final defeat to eventual champion Mirra Andreeva, Swiatek appeared to hit a ball towards a ball boy in frustration.

The ball did not make contact, but bounced into the stands.

Swiatek, who was the defending champion at Indian Wells, insisted she had apologised to the ball boy, but took the chance to hit out at her critics.

In a lengthy social media post, the 23-year-old wrote: "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.

"Working on oneself isn't something you achieve once and keep forever. Sometimes we take two steps forward and one step back.

MIGHTY MIRRA 

The 17-year-old defeats defending champion Iga Swiatek 7-6(1), 1-6, 6-3!#TennisParadise pic.twitter.com/AE5fqxUkFE

— wta (@WTA) March 15, 2025

"When I'm highly focused and don't show many emotions on court, I'm called a robot, my attitude labelled as inhuman.

"Now that I'm more expressive, showing feelings or struggling internally, I'm suddenly labelled immature or hysterical.

"That's not a healthy standard – especially considering that just six months ago, I felt my career was hanging by a thread, spent three weeks crying daily, and didn't want to step on the court.

"Today, after everything I've been through, I'm still processing and coming to terms with those experiences."

Swiatek has not won a title since she claimed her fifth grand slam crown at last year's French Open.

She has won 18 matches on the WTA Tour this season, the joint-most among all players, but has failed to reach a final so far.

Swiatek lost to Andreeva in the quarter-finals of the Dubai Tennis Championships, and Jelena Ostapenko in the last four of the Qatar Open.

Those defeats followed on from a semi-final loss to Madison Keys at the Australian Open.

Swiatek will look to get back to winning ways at the Miami Open later this week.