"Dream team" - Lindsey Vonn lauds Iga Swiatek on winning Qatar Open
Lindsey Vonn has enthusiastically reacted to Iga Swiatek winning the Qatar Open title for the third consecutive year. Swiatek defeated World No. 4 Elena Rybakina to claim her career's 18th singles title.
The World No. 1 is the first player, since the legendary Serena Williams, to win a WTA singles title three successive times. Swiatek told the media, after the win, that she kept working and didn't think about too many things. She said
"I'm happy that I kept working and just didn't really think about too many stuff during this week and just focused on the right things, because I think it was the key. Coming here and being kind of the double-defending champion wasn't easy. So I'm happy that I have this experience already, and hopefully I'm going to use it."
Former US alpine ski racer Lindsey Vonn lauded the Pole, tweeting
"Dream team!"
Vonn had responded to Swiatek's post on X (formerly Twitter) with the trophy
When Lindsey Vonn was slammed for celebrating Iga Swiatek's win
In 2023, the former American skiing champion was criticized on social media for celebrating Swiatek's win against America's Jessica Pegula in the WTA Finals. The 22-year-old defeated World No. 5 Pegula, 6-0, 6-1, and finished the year as World No. 1.
Vonn had said
"Yessssss!!!! Go @iga_swiatek go!!!!!!"
One of Pegula's fans called out Vonn, saying
"strange an american happy with defeat of another american."
But Vonn, 39, came back saying
"Can I just be happy my friend won a tournament? Jeez Louise smh"
The skiing champion has also faced criticism for describing one of the tennis greats Roger Federer as "GOAT". Vonn had recently posted on social media:
"Normally, people you admire always disappoint you in one way or another, but not Roger Federer. Roger is the epitome of a true sportsman and champion in every sense of the word. We have talked about skiing together for so long, I wasn't sure it would happen. But here we are: retired, skiing and enjoying life! Thanks for this memory Rog. You and your family are truly one of a kind and no matter what the statistics say, you are the GOAT, forever because it takes more than numbers to have the kind of impact you have, I'm just one of millions. man."
She removed the post from her X account after facing backlash from Novak Djokovic's fans, but has kept it on Instagram