The second part of 2024 was full of surprises and changes for Iga Swiatek. The Polish player has been the biggest WTA tour point in recent years and proved to be unstoppable especially on red clay, while on other surfaces she struggled more to impose her dominance.
The world number 1 played a great French Open this year, confirming to be clearly the best player in the world under certain conditions. Given her dominance in Paris, it seemed all set to see her win the Olympic tournament in Paris as well, but something went wrong. Iga struggled to manage the pressure and control her nerves, losing in the semi-finals against every prediction. Swiatek burst into tears during the press conference, but she managed to react and win a bronze medal.
The slag of the defeat at the Olympics has haunted her also in the following month, as shown by the poor results obtained in Cincinnati and especially at the US Open. The champion from Warsaw recently shocked everyone by announcing the end of her professional collaboration with Tomasz Wiktorowski. The feeling is that Swiatek needs new stimuli at this point in his career, especially to improve on the hard courts.
A new beginning
The rise of Aryna Sabalenka is seriously jeopardising Igas leadership in the WTA ranking and a turnaround is needed as soon as possible. World number 1 Iga Swiatek has officially announced the name of her new coach on her social profiles. The Polish tennis player who has won 5 Grand Slam titles in her career and recently separated from her coach Tomasz Wiktorowski, who has followed her for the past three seasons, announced that she has hired a new coach.
Swiatek who did not play at the US Open and missed the whole trip to China was happy to work with Wim Fissette, who has already coached Kim Cljsters, Victoria Azarenka and Simona Halep. "I have news for you today. I must tell you that I am excited and motivated to start a new chapter in my career - wrote Swiatek on his social profiles - I am happy to announce that Wim Fissette will join our team. As you know Im preparing for the WTA Finals, but my choice is a long term one and not short term. I have said many times that my career is a marathon and not a sprint and I am working and making decisions with this approach. I am very excited to work with Wim. He has a great knowledge of the game and a lot of high level experience in tennis. We have to get to know each other better but we started well and I cant wait to go back to the court to play". Belarusian star Aryna Sabalenka has come a long way to Swiatek in the WTA ranking and at the Finals there will be also the leadership of the ranking and the title of number one of year-end.
The separation from Wiktorowski was a major turning point in Igas career. In a long interview with Przeglad Sportowy Onet, Tomasz opened up on Swiateks decision: There have been many speculations and insinuations... Certainly too much, considering that the message that has been published defines our decision very precisely. It is enough to read it with understanding, and not with the intention of trying to make a sensation. The end of our cooperation was made in respect of both parties and no fake news will change anything. I think in general we had a very good relationship within the team.
During three years of intensive cooperation, it is impossible to avoid difficult situations, but even then we have always found a way to reach an agreement and get back on court. Iga and everything related to the preparation of a player at the highest level have always been a priority for us. It was just a necessity. We never made any sudden, especially unconsidered decisions.
The tribute to Rafa
During this time away from tennis, Iga took the opportunity to find the right serenity and pay tribute to her idol Rafael Nadal. The 22-time Grand Slam champion has announced that he will end his career as a Spanish representative at the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga in November.
Hi Rafa, because of your announcement today I think this is going to be a really special day for every tennis fan she said. I just wanted to speak about my appreciation and what your career meant to me, because you are the biggest inspiration I ever had in tennis, and the reason why sometimes I got extra motivated I kept pushing myself.
Thank you for that and thank you for being such an amazing person off the court as well. Your humility is something that is not so often, when you see other athletes succeeding. Youre the one whos always honest to himself, so thank you for being a really good person, and I hope youre going to enjoy the other part of your life. Hopefully youll have some other career because the sky is the limit for you now and I really hope youre going to spend a lot of time with your close ones and your family Iga added.
