Sympathy was hard to identify for Iga Swiatek as she crashed out of the Australian Open after an epic semi-final showdown against Madison Keys.

Polish tennis fans were naturally disappointed to see their national hero depart the stage before an anticipated showdown in the final against her great rival Aryna Sabalenka, but the reaction of social media was joyous relief as the five-time Grand Slam queen bowed out of a tournament she looked favourite to win prior to her match with Keys.

Swiatek had lost just 13 games in her opening five matches in Melbourne, with his comprehensive destruction of 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu for the loss of just one game evidence of the momentum she appeared to be building up.

Yet Swiatek’s flaws were exposed by Keys, as she refused to allow the five-time Grand Slam champion to assert her control over the match took the four-time French Open champion out of her comfort zone and as the matches reached a thrilling conclusion in the third set, she finally cracked.

“She pushed me when she needed to,” said Swiatek. “I think it was 50/50 because I think maybe I would have won it sometimes if I could win easy points with my serve as she did.

“She could always come back from being in trouble with the serve, but I didn’t serve as well. So maybe that would make a difference.

More Tennis News

The 9 greatest WTA Tour players of the 2020s so far – ranked!

The 18 active WTA players to win a Grand Slam singles title: Iga Swiatek with 5, Naomi Osaka 3rd

“It was tight from the beginning. I would say the first set and third set where I felt like I was playing my tennis. Still, I think I played good, but she played better.”

They were gracious words from Swiatek, but she may not have had a big audience listening to her, as the world No 2 has never been a headline grabber.

For a variety of reasons, many of them inexplicable, the former world No 1 has struggled to connect with an audience outside of the tennis bubble.

There is no doubt she is a brilliant tennis player and no doubt that she has achieved more than most players manage in an entire career at the tender age of 23.

Yet in an age when those with the loudest personalities tend to get more attention than those who win with efficient ease, Swiatek has come up short in the popularity contests.

You can point to her slightly awkward tone when a camera is pointed at her or her quirky manner when she speaks, but it seems that the barrier blocking tennis and sports fans from finding space in their hearts for Iga runs deeper.

She made an appearance on the Netflix show Break Point show in a bid to boost her visibility and is a character laced with intrigue, but Swiatek stories don’t capture the imagination of readers like those written about Sabalenka, Coco Gauff or Raducanu.

While Sabalenka opens up about her love life and her friendships off-court with rivals like Paula Badosa, Swiatek likes to keep the personal part of her life away from the cameras and while that is a perfectly reasonable decision, it may be another reason why the public has struggled to make a connection.

We like to get to know our sporting heroes, but Swiatek prefers to keep her focus on tennis and is not interested in playing the fame game.

She also has some on-court moments that are hard to admire.

Her annoying habit of delaying her opponent is also an aspect of Swiatek’s set-up that is hard to embrace, with her eagerness to stop Keys serving as she practised her shots prior to a service game drawing boos from the Melbourne crowd.

We had a similar scene at Wimbledon last summer as Swiatek took an extended comfort break during the match against Yulia Putintseva and when she eventually arrived back on court, she took an age to get ready to play.

That inspired the traditionally polite crowd at Wimbledon to turn on Swiatek and cheer every winner Putintseva struck, creating an atmosphere that contributed to an upset win for the Russian player.

That story was replicated in the Australian Open match against Keys, with winning shots for the American cheered with more gusto than moments of brilliance from Swiatek and you could argue we have been here before.

Novak Djokovic has battled against negative spectators for much of his career and the only crime he committed not being Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal… and maybe being a bit too good to ensure matches remain entertaining when he is in full flow.

Djokovic looks destined to end his career without entirely winning that battle to be loved by the fans and while Swiatek has time to win over a reluctant tennis fanbase, her popularity levels have yet to match her stunning achievements on the court.

READ NEXT: How many points are Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff defending in February?