Iga Swiatek’s season has become very complicated in recent months. The Polish player did not get the results she wanted in the last part of the season, while her great rival Aryna Sabalenka raised her level by winning the WTA in Cincinnati and especially the US Open.
The French Open champion seemed to be in trouble from all points of view in the last period and has skipped several tournaments worrying her fans. Despite recent difficulties, the world number 1 has still won a Grand Slam title proving to be almost unbeatable on red clay.
The inertia of Iga’s season changed at the Paris Olympics, where she was the big favorite to win the gold medal. Swiatek has disappointed expectations by having to settle for the bronze medal and since that time she has not been able to play her best tennis. A few days ago, news was announced that shocked tennis fans around the world.
Iga wants something different
Swiatek announced the end of her long professional collaboration with her longtime coach Tomasz Wiktorowski, along with whom she has won four Majors, nine WTA 1000 and the WTA Finals, as well as being number 1 in the world for over 120 weeks. After giving up playing the WTA in Beijing, Swiatek announced that he will not participate in the WTA 1000 in Wuhan. This decision seriously jeopardizes her leadership in the WTA ranking.
“Coach Wiktorowski joined my team for three seasons, when I strongly needed changes and a fresh approach to my game,” Iga wrote. “His experience, analytical and strategic attitude and enormous knowledge about tennis helped us to achieve things I’ve never dreamed of only a few months after we started working together.
“Our main goal was to become No.1 player in the world and coach Wiktorowski was the one who said it first. We aimed very high, we headed to every tournament with a clear goal to win it. Together with coach Wiktorowski we won many tournaments and 4 Grand Slams. Coach, THANK YOU, I wish you all the best,” Swiatek wrote. “I know that you would like to rest after these 3 years of hard work and traveling a lot and spending some well deserved time with your loved ones and I hope you’ll get what you need.”
She also added: “Due to this important change on my team, I give myself a couple of weeks to start a cooperation with a new coach. I’m in the middle of first talks with coaches from abroad (non-Polish) because I’m ready to take the next step of my career. I will let you know when I make a decision.”
Barbara Schett on Swiatek
The fans hope that the Polish player will find the right serenity to close in the best way a 2024 that has given her so much satisfaction.
Speaking with Eurosport, Barbara Schett opened up on Swiatek’s current status: “Iga Swiatek may be number one in the world, but she still wants to develop her game outside of clay, for example on grass and hard grass. It must be recognized that this has not really happened in the last two years. She is looking for something different, an outside look, because at this level, every detail counts.
I’m not surprised she’s looking for someone from abroad and not Poland. She needs another pair of eyes and different stimulation. I was very disappointed by the way she played at Wimbledon and the US Open, where she was so one-dimensional and couldn’t adapt tactically. She was rushing but not really looking for solutions. She can certainly develop her game even more and learn when to defend and when to move forward.”
If she gets good results in this last part of the season, Sabalenka has a good chance to overtake Iga at the top of the WTA ranking. Unless there are any surprises, the Polish player should be in the WTA Finals. ATP legend John McEnroe also reflected on Swiatek’s recent difficulties: “For me, she doesn’t want to play defense. Sometimes she should back up a bit when the attack doesn’t work as well as she would like, such as on clay.
She continues to try to hit, which is somewhat surprising for someone who prefers a slower surface. I was a little surprised that she didn’t want or can’t make adjustments on the faster surfaces. I don’t know if she had a drop in confidence, but if you saw someone like Iga defend as well as she attacks, it would be hard for the opponents to overcome. I’m a little surprised she didn’t make that adjustment, but she’s young and hopefully she can adapt and improve a bit in the net.”
