Iga Swiatek opens up about THAT scene from “Break Point” on Netflix, online harassment

WATCH: Swiatek discussed the fallout from her participation in “Break Point” in her post-match press conference on Friday.

CINCINNATI, Ohio—Iga Swiatek continued to shed light on her decision to speak out against the online harassment she claims she and her team have experienced at the Western & Southern Open, admitting her participation in the Netflix streamer “Break Point” fueled further negative comments.

“There were some things that I thought they edited it, and people kind of misunderstood sometimes few situations in the episode,” she said after defeating Marketa Vondrousova in straight sets on Friday to reach the semifinals. “Well, we already kind of spoke to Netflix about these things. I wish it could be done a little bit differently. When we watched before the premiere, we couldn't have any influence on how they edited some stuff.”

In an emotional press conference on Thursday, Swiatek, who cited criticism dating back to earlier this season when she went 8-1 during the Middle East swing but failed to win her final match at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, revealed that fallout from her Netflix episode’s debut this summer has not helped. In particular, there was critical reception to a scene in which the 22-year-old is getting a haircut while ever-present sports psychologist Daria Abramowicz looks on:

“I was sarcastic and I said I'm not going to adjust my haircut to tennis because I tend to, early years, few years back, cut my hair really short,” she explained. “My hair is really chaotic. It needs to be perfect, because if not, I can't really control it.

“Daria reminded me about that. She got a lot of hate that she's like, I don't know, has influence on my haircut. That's not true because she's just a person who's going to kind of remind me of those stuff.”

Earlier in the week, Swiatek both doubted whether she would return to “Break Point”—which is currently filming its second season—and expressed dismay at the vitriol that both she and her team have experienced since ascending to the top of the WTA rankings in 2022. But while she took special umbrage with how this scene was edited, the world No. 1 nonetheless found the humor in her so-called “chaotic” hair journey—demonstrating the pitfalls of various lengths.

“I cut my hair in a wrong way couple of times, and it was a mess!” she said, tilting her head to different angles. “Here sometimes also, it's, like, falling. I'm sure you guys also don't like that. I can do it too short, but on the other hand I have so much hair that I want to do it short because it's heavy and it's too hot. People just criticized and they didn't understand my sarcasm, so that's a shame.

“Actually, I'm an athlete and I am kind of going to adjust my hair to tennis. That's the reality. It's like swimmers, they shave their legs. There are plenty of things in sports that you have to kind of take care of. People are not talking about that. I used sarcasm, and maybe that wasn't a good idea.

“I don't think we should talk about hair that much, but…” she concluded with a smile.

Swiatek, who won her fourth major title at Roland Garros in June, rallied from a break down in the opening set to defeat the reigning Wimbledon champion, 7-6 (3), 6-1, and reach her first Western & Southern Open semifinal. Awaiting her there will be either No. 7 seed Coco Gauff or Italian qualifier Jasmine Paolini.