The last few weeks have been difficult for Iga Świątek. Although it is not known exactly what is happening in the life of the leader of the ranking, she had to decide to withdraw from the next tournaments, Seoul and Beijing, and after announcing her separation from Tomasz Wiktorowski on Friday morning, she also resigned from participation in Wuhan.
The end of Świątek’s cooperation with the coach is quite unexpected, mainly due to the fact that the tennis player still has to play in the WTA Finals this season, and there have already been voices about such a solution.
– I’m not surprised. Since the Olympics, it has been said that something is wrong and this cooperation does not look exactly as it should. About the fact that Iga is not playing at the same level as before and cannot cope with the pressure. There were a lot of signals, but the results were not as good as before Roland Garros, which she won – summed up Justyna Kostyra, Eurosport journalist.
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She didn’t take his words personally
Although Świątek and Wiktorowski have had an extremely successful three seasons, which resulted in four triumphs in Grand Slam tournaments, the last few weeks have been filled with dissatisfaction.
– It was obvious at the US Open that something was wrong. When I was commenting on Iga’s quarterfinal with Jessica Pegula, the microphone picked up Wiktorowski’s comments. Lech Sidor and I noticed that the tennis player received instructions from the coach, but did not implement them. It was a clash with what was happening on the other side of the net. When the trainer told Pegula something, she immediately did what he suggested, the expert said.
– Of course, a tennis player often has better solutions in her head than the coach, but it was striking that Iga did not implement at all what Wiktorowski told her – she added
Time for a new chapter
“The first talks with coaches from abroad are already underway, because I feel that I am ready for the next step in my career,” Iga Świątek said in a statement. Although it is not known who is being taken into account, the following are available on the market: Wim Fissette, who recently finished working with Naomi Osaka, and Brad Gilbert, who had the opportunity to work with Andre Agassi or Coco Gauff.
– It’s a good idea to cooperate with someone from abroad, but I hope it will be an experienced coach who has worked with someone in the WTA and achieved good results. It’s a completely different view when someone from outside comes in, they won’t know Iga and they won’t know what’s written in the media in Poland. Abroad, Iga is simply the leader of the world ranking and that’s it. A foreign coach will not be confused, he will only form his own opinion about the tennis player – emphasized Justyna Kostyra.
Who could cooperate with Świątek? – We know that Fissette is free, and so is Sascha Bajin. But the latter was mainly Serena Williams’ sparring partner. He has successes under his belt, but he is still very young. I think it’s better for Iga to have someone more experienced. There are probably some things that could still be improved on her. The most important thing is that Iga herself feels good with such a trainer. However, if Świątek decided on Polish coaches, I see only two candidates: Dawid Celt and Maciej Synówka – summed up the Eurosport journalist.
– The main challenge for the new coach is to fit into the existing staff. It may take some time to get into it and feel the flow, she added.
Due to his withdrawal from Wuhan, we will probably see Świątek on the court only during the WTA Finals in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia). This event will be held from November 2 to 9.
