Iga Swiatek speaks out after facing fierce backlash for what she did during win over Katie Boulter

Iga Swiatek helped secure Poland’s place in the United Cup semi-finals with a win over Team GB.

After Hubert Hurkacz gave Poland a 1-0 lead in their tie with Great Britain, Swiatek beat Katie Boulter to book her country a spot in the last four.

It was a great match and one that will no doubt be remembered for quite some time, as Swiatek produced another fine performance at the United Cup.

Boulter had won the first set, but the Pole battled back after taking a brief injury time-out having been broken by the Brit.

Many fans were unimpressed by Swiatek’s ‘timely’ injury, but the Pole has since defended herself, claiming that she didn’t intentionally disrupt her opponent’s rhythm.

Iga Swiatek says it ‘wasn’t her intention’ to throw Katie Boulter off her game with medical timeout at the United Cup

Speaking after her three-set victory over Boulter in the United Cup quarter-finals, the world number two denied any claims that she purposefully distracted the Brit with her timeout.

“No, I wasn’t expecting that,” she said.

“I didn’t take medical timeout to throw Katie off her game.

“I did it because I had to and I didn’t feel well.

“But I took some, you know, painkillers, and they started working pretty quickly, I was able to move a bit better.”