"You're just jealous Iga Swiatek made this money in 40 minutes" - Fans defend Pole against hate as French Open 4R demolition sparks "equal pay" debate

Iga Swiatek needed only 40 minutes to get past Anastasia Potapova in the pair's fourth-round clash at the French Open on Sunday, June 2. The World No. 1 inflicted a humiliating double bagel on the Russian, who was outclassed in every department by the two-time defending French Open champion. However, Swiatek's swift victory bizarrely sparked an equal pay row among fans, and a vast section of them stood firmly by the Pole.

The row was sparked when comparisons surfaced between Swiatek's 40-minute blitz against Potapova and Novak Djokovic's four-hour and 29-minute marathon against Lorenzo Musetti. Djokovic and Musetti started their third-round match on Court Philippe Chatrier around 10:45 PM local time in Paris on Saturday, June 1. Their five-set thriller, which went the Serb's way, came to its conclusion beyond 3 AM on Sunday, June 2.

Several fans opined that men's tennis is more competitive than women's tennis. According to these fans, the duration of Djokovic's match against Musetti and that of Swiatek's contest against Potapova reflect this opinion. They also argued that the male tennis players deserve to be paid more than their female colleagues.

However, some fans, particularly those who are Iga Swiatek loyalists, criticized the argument on X (formerly Twitter). One set of fans slammed the people who believe that women's tennis players don't deserve to earn as much as men.

"All these equal pay arguments after like one dominant Iga performance… where were you guys when Iga and Aryna played a tremendous three setter in the Madrid final - and Rublev/FAA played an ITF level final and earned way more? No faux outrage tweets then, huh?" one fan asked.

"Iga wins a MP saving three setter: gets hate.Iga wins a double bagel in 40 mins: gets hate.Iga wins without showing emotions: gets hate.Iga cries after winning: gets hate," the previous fan wrote in a separate post.

"Y’all be just jealous Iga made this amount of money in 40 minutes," wrote another fan.

"The way these misogynistic losers can spin literally any match into “this is why women should be payed less” is actually incredible, too short too long too unpredictable too boring just say you hate women and go," another fan commented.

Another set of fans called out how those opining that women should be paid less are basing their judgment on a comparison of two extremes.

"Putting two extremes next to each other and scream “they get paid equally” well yes they do the same job," one fan wrote.

"Not girlies’ fault that your geriatric fave (Djokovic) decided to tussle with twosetti (Musetti) past 3 am," another fan commented.

"Unfair comparison. Iga’s competitor had 5 winners and 17 UFEs. She played poorly. Meanwhile Musetti had 52 winners and 32 UFEs. He was playing the match of his life," another fan chimed in.

Iga Swiatek couldn't hide her own surprise at the swift nature of her French Open fourth-round win over Potapova

Iga Swiatek at a press conference

After beating Anastasia Potapova, Iga Swiatek briefly spoke about the match at the post-match, on-court interview. The Pole said that she kept focusing on her own game without paying too much attention to the scoreboard. However, she did admit that the quick conclusion of the match felt "weird" to her.

"I was just really focused and really in the zone, wasn't really looking at the score so I just continued playing my game, working on stuff I wanted to work on. It went pretty quickly...pretty weird," Swiatek said.

Up next for Iga Swiatek, in the quarterfinals of the French Open, is reigning Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova on Tuesday, June 4. Djokovic, meanwhile, is set to clash against Francisco Cerundolo in the fourth round on Monday, June 3.