It was a glance at her box from Iga Swiatek that may have confirmed what most in tennis have been suspecting for a long time.
As she crashed to defeat against Elise Mertens in the China Open, the former world No 1 did not appear to be keen to engage with the team that has been hired to get her crumbling career back on track.
Sky Sports commentator Jonathan Overend was the first to speculate that coach Francisco Roig ‘may be getting sacked’ and it was hard to draw any other conclusion given the frosty exchanges between the six-time Grand Slam-winning great and her team.
Roig teamed up with Swiatek last April and the former coach of Rafael Nadal wasted little time in trying to implement his ideas with the Polish star.
A revamped serve appeared to be one of Roig’s big ideas and while Swiatek has tried to adapt to his suggestions, the brutal reality appears to suggest she needs more than the odd technical tweak to get her back on track.
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It has been clear for some time that Swiatek’s biggest threat is not standing on the other side of the net, but more the confusion rattling around her mind when pressure is applied and matches start to slip away from her.
In her prime, Swiatek carried a fear factor onto a tennis court that was backed up by fast starts and the persistent threat that she would win sets 6-0 in double quick time.
She did that time and again and it left her rivals fearing they would be the latest victims of an Iga bagel, but those same opponents are now viewing a match against a vulnerable Swiatek as an opportunity to get a big name win on your record.
Swiatek had beaten Mertens pretty comfortably in their two previous meetings before their latest clash in Beijing, with this latest defeat adding to the perception that Iga is there for the taking after she surrendered a 5-0 first set lead to lose against Zheng Qinwen at the US Open.
The what comes next question will be at the top of Swiatek’s agenda in a season when she may not qualify for the end-of-season WTA finals, with tennis great John McEnroe among those confused by her demise.
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“It’s inexplicable what happened with Swiatek,” said McEnroe in his role as a Eurosport analyst.
“He’s a respected coach and I think he wants her to play the way she did when she won all the French Open titles.
“For me, I don’t think that you keep changing coaches is the best thing for anyone, really. So in my opinion, give it time and make sure that this is something she wants.
“I don’t even know what she’s thinking right now, but the coaching was not the problem in this particular case. I think they were on the right track, actually.
“She was playing more like the way you’d expect her in Canada and Cincinnati. I thought she would be difficult to beat at the US Open.
“I still think she will win majors, but there are more questions than answers right now for Iga.”
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