Danielle Collins accused Iga Swiatek of being “insincere” following a tumultuous Olympics match on Wednesday in which the Pole was left fighting to breathe after being downed by a pile-driver backhand from the big American.
Collins retired in a difficult quarter-final, trailing 1-4 in the final set after leaving the court for a medical timeout.
When the two shook hands at the net, Collins, 30, exchanged furious words with a perplexed Swiatek.
“I told Iga she didn’t have to be insincere about my injury. I haven’t had the best experience and I don’t really feel like anybody needs to be insincere,” said Collins, without elaborating on the precise cause of her anger.
“They can be the way that they are, and I can accept that, and I don’t need the fakeness.”
Swiatek said she was puzzled by Collins’s criticism.
“I would rather not get into this because this is her last year on tour,” said the top seed.
“I haven’t had a chance actually to tell her that she had a great journey and she really played well. So, I want to give her all the respect possible.”
There had already been a worrying moment in the opening game of the third set when the powerful Collins drilled a fierce backhand into the body of Swiatek as she approached the net.
Swiatek took evasive action but was still struck a painful blow on the chest. She crouched on the ground, catching her breath before continuing.
Collins, ranked ninth, immediately crossed to Swiatek’s side of the net to apologise.
“I couldn’t breathe for some time,” explained Swiatek.
“I guess with the adrenaline that you have on court, you don’t feel these kind of things too hard. So I could get back in the game really quickly.”
That exchange was quickly followed by Collins expressing her unhappiness that Swiatek had held up her racquet as she prepared to serve, claiming fans were distracting her.
“There is nobody behind me… play at the server’s pace,” Collins barked at the Pole.

Swiatek, a four-time French Open champion, has now won 25 consecutive matches at Roland Garros, becoming the first Pole to reach the final four in any Olympic tennis event.
She will compete against China’s Zheng Qinwen for the gold medal.
Swiatek won the first set 6-1, but Collins leveled the quarterfinals by winning the second set 6-2.
Collins’ challenge unraveled when she needed an off-court injury time-out after three games in the final set.
Two games later, with tears in her eyes, the American retired due to injury.
Collins claimed she was physically limited by having to play three hours on Tuesday as the temperatures soared into the mid-30s Celsius.
“I had a heat stroke. Nearly collapsed when I came off court, and I was on a medical table for three hours,” she said.
“I wasn’t able to receive cool water during the entire match. Didn’t have insulated bottles. I overheated. having full body convulsions and somehow played doubles.
“The conditions here have been brutal. And I suffered the consequences of that last night and today.”