After some problems shown after the triumph at the Roland Garros, Iga Swiatek has decided to change direction, officially ending the collaboration with her coach Tomasz Wiktorowski. The announcement was made by the WTA No.1 herself through a post shared on Instagram.
But now the question is:who could be the new coach of theWTANo. 1? And what couldbring to the Polish player's tennis?
Let's be clear: except for the triumph at the 2022 US Open, Iga has shown great problems on playing on hard-courts and on grass-courts.
Her tennis fits perfectly with clay-courts, but does not shine on other surfaces. And over the years, there has not been a real leap in quality from the Polish player on hard and grass-courts. On the contrary: after the victory at Flushing Meadows two years ago,Swiatekhas had a regression on fast surfaces. What she needs is a coach who can help her expand her technical and tactical knowledge, otherwise she will always remain a clay-court player and will not evolve.
Throught an Instagram post, Swiatek explained the end of her partnership with Wiktorowski, writing: "After 3 years full of great successes, we have decided to part ways. I want to start with a big thank you and appreciation for the work done together. Coach Wiktorowski joined my team for three seasons, when I was in dire need of changes and a new approach to my game. His experience, his analytical and strategic attitude and his enormous knowledge of tennis helped us achieve things I would never have dreamed of just a few months after starting to work together.
Our main goal was the top of the rankings and he was the first to say it and believe in it. We aimed very high, we went to each tournament with a clear goal: to win it. Together with coach Wiktorowski we won many tournaments, including 4 Slams. All this was possible thanks to the whole team, with my athletic trainer and physiotherapist Maciej Ryszczuk and my psychologist Daria Abramowicz.
Thank you coach, I wish you all the best. I know you would like to rest after these 3 years of hard work and travel, spending some well-deserved time with your loved ones. I hope you will get what you need. Due to this important change in my team, I give myself a couple of weeks to start a cooperation with a new coach. I am in the middle of the first interviews with foreign non-Polish coaches, because I am ready to take the next step in my career. I'll let you know when I've made a decision," she explaiend.
Iga Swiatek on the tennis schedule issue
A few weeks ago Swiatek had expressed herself harshly on the tennis schedule issue: a matter that is causing many tennis players to collide against the WTA and ATP.
"The tennis calendar issue would be something that is easily solved by tennis officials. What is happening is crazy and the calendar is really tough. I talked about it in Cincinnati and people told me that I am not obliged to play so many tournaments, but the reality is different and we have so many mandatory tournaments that we have to be in. In this way there is no time to improve, to think, we go from one tournament to another. For example, we do not have time even at the end of the year. The first tournament starts on December 29, so the season is definitely too long. I think it is something that has to change, it will be better for the fans too. In this way they will not see their favorite players retiring or getting injured so much. We can present better quality. But I have seen since last year that we have no influence on what happens. They even changed the rules without us knowing anything. They changed the rules on mandatory tournaments and then they showed it to us, we try to talk but we have no influence. Our sport is going in the wrong direction because of these things," she said.
Swiatek explained that until about 10 years ago the WTA had about 11-12 mandatory tournaments and that tennis was just as interesting 10 years ago with the other tournament system.
"My coach plans everything very smartly, but it's difficult. I played Stuttgart, Madrid, Rome, Roland Garros and I only had two days between each tournament. I don't have time. Maybe it will work for a few years, but what will happen after that if I want to continue playing at the same level?" she added.
