Iga Swiatek hilariously struggles to lift Indian Wells trophy

Iga Swiatek may have stormed to yet another title this year at Indian Wells on Sunday but a hilarious clip shows that the Pole still had her fair share of struggles –– particularly with the trophy itself. 

Swiatek beat Greece’s Maria Sakkari in straight sets to continue her impressive unbeaten run and secure her second consecutive WTA title. 

The 20-year-old has also matched Rafael Nadal’s impressive feat of securing 20 victories in 2022 so far.

Her victory will also see her rise to number two in the world, behind only Ashleigh Barty, who was absent from Indian Wells last week. 

Barty will also miss the upcoming Miami Open, where she won last year, which gives the Pole a good chance of narrowing the gap at the top of the rankings. 

But while everything appears to be going right for Swiatek from a tennis perspective, some couldn’t help but comment on how difficult she found it to lift the Indian Wells trophy at the weekend. 

The Twitter page Tennis GIFS posted a clip of the Pole trying, and failing to pick up the trophy after the final and captioned it: “The struggle is quite real.” 

The struggle is quite real. #swiatek pic.twitter.com/TmCqRWYbx2

Naturally, fans found the incident amusing. One joked: “Kinda ridiculous to make an immovable trophy.”

Another said: “Seriously, what is this trophy made of?” 

A third even suggested that Swiatek found the actual match easier than lifting the trophy itself. “It was easier to beat Maria,” one user stressed. 

It’s not the first time players have seemingly struggled with the weight of the Indian Wells prize. 

Simona Halep, who lost to Swiatek in the semi-finals, was asked by reporters to lift the trophy after she won the tournament in 2015. 

The Romanian responded, “Yes for sure, I