IGA SWIATEK brushed off a bizarre joke from an interviewer following her Cincinnati Open semi-final success.
Swiatek, 24, beat Elena Rybakina in straight sets to reach the Cincinnati Open final where she will face Jasmine Paolini.
After the match Swiatek was being interviewed on-court about progressing to the final when she halted the chat after she thought she could hear thunder in the distance, spelling trouble for potential rain ahead of the final.
Breaking off mid-answer she said: “Wait… rain?”
Bizarrely the interviewer, who one can only assume thought Swiatek had felt a droplet of rain, joked: “No, no. It was probably me spitting on you when I’m asking you a question.”
The unusual moment was met with brief laughter from the crowd in the stands at P&G centre court.
But Swiatek tried to brush the awkward situation under the carpet, responding: “I just heard something, I thought it was thunder, never mind it’s in my mind.”
Reacting to Swiatek’s calm handling of the situation, one fan wrote online: “She’s too funny”.
While another added: “I love her”.
Asked about her performance, Swiatek said: “That was a tough match.
“At the beginning it was pretty crazy, we played so fast that sometimes we couldn’t even run to the second ball.
“I was there to play with intensity and good quality and I am super happy with the performance.
“It will be super tough in the final. I will have to prepare tactically but I will focus on myself and try to continue the work I have been doing.”
Italian Jasmine Paolini earned her place in the final against Swiatek with a 6-3 6-7 (2-7) 6-3 win over Russian Veronika Kudermetova.
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