Iga Swiatek's team in blazing row with Coco Gauff's ex-coach at Wimbledon - 'Be careful'

Iga Swiatek's strength and conditioning coach has hit back at Coco Gauff's former mentor for his "ugly" comments after the Wimbledon ladies' final. Swiatek dominated Amanda Anisimova with the first 6-0 6-0 victory in a Grand Slam final since Steffi Graf beat Natasha Zvereva in just 34 minutes at the 1988 French Open.

One of those to express his discontent with the 57-minute result was Brad Gilbert, Gauff's coach from August 2023 to September 2024. He took to X and wrote: "That's a very sad day for tennis on center court @Wimbledon. Got to feel for AA. Last time that happened 1988 @rolandgarros, final was like 35 mins Graf vs Zverev." He'd also earlier posted: "Crazy, Iga Pop tourney stat, the highest ranked player she has played this @Wimbledon [Liudmila] Samsonova at 19. AA is ranked 12, not sure when last time someone won a slam without facing a top 10 player."

It's that post that Maciej Ryszczuk, the physiotherapist in Swiatek's team, felt obliged to reply to in defence of the Pole. He commented: "It's so low that even you can feel the bottom. Do your research better. Winning ugly doesn't mean commenting ugly."

While Gilbert didn't respond directly to Ryszczuk, he did address the wider backlash he faced. "Everyone take a freaking chill pill, it's twitter oouch on sensitivity," he said.

Ryszczuk took issue with Gilbert questioning Swiatek's path to the final, which isn't uncommon in the sport, as he suggested, particularly after a record-breaking number of seeds fell in the early rounds of Wimbledon this year. He later clarified his frustration to Interia, explaining: "For someone so well-known, with such sporting and coaching achievements, I find this unacceptable.

"It's embarrassing to write such articles. All you need to do is do a little research and look back at other tournaments to see that this isn't the first time a tournament has been structured this way. Besides, let's be honest, I'd be more concerned with whether top players participated in this tournament.

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"And if so, why they were eliminated, whether it was due to fatigue or because other players simply played better. We need to appreciate what happened, and I simply suggest Mr. Brad come back down to earth and be careful what you write."

Gilbert's former student Gauff was one of those to suffer a shock first-round exit. The French Open champion was defeated in straight sets by then-world No. 42 Dayana Yastremska.