STUTTGART, Germany — World No. 4 Iga Swiatek has had an eventful few weeks since her second loss to Magda Linette at the Miami Open.
Apparently, he has announced a new addition to his team, Rafael Nadal’s former coach Francisco Roig after parting ways with former coach Wim Fissette. In addition, he spent several days in Mallorca, training at the Rafa Nadal Academy (RNA) with the 22-time Grand Slam champion along with Roig.
At a press day at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, where he is a two-time champion, Swiatek talked about how the partnership with Roig came about, his time in Mallorca and more ahead of his first clay court tournament of the season. Here are the most important points:
Swiatek sought expertise and technical assistance in the search process
The six-time Grand Slam champion said finding a new coach would be a “tricky” process for him as he had only done so twice in his career. Although he had time to return to Poland in mind, he was focused on finding his next coach.
He hired Roig, who was with Nadal from 2005-22 in addition to other top tennis players, including Emma Raducanu.
“I’m very happy to start with Francis,” Swiatek said in a press conference Monday. “Basically I was looking for someone with good eyes, with professional knowledge, but also someone with enough experience to help me in different situations. I feel that Francisco has lived everything maybe on the trip.
“It’s very surprising. It’s the beginning. We’re still getting to know each other. It was really a very fast process. I was able to find a new coach very quickly, which is good because obviously when you do that in the middle of the season, it’s nice to have some security in that, so I already had time to train with Francis Mallorca.”
In his opinion, Swiatek had been eyeing Mallorca for two months
Swiatek, who won four of his six Grand Slam titles on clay at Roland Garros, said he had been thinking about RNA training for the past few months. He also said that he wants to make changes before his clay court season as last year’s clay season was not up to his standards.
“I wanted to go to Mallorca because I knew the facilities there, I knew the court,” said Swiatek. “I knew I was going to do a solid job there without any distractions.”
The opportunity was right for Swiatek, who was grateful to have met Nadal but also met Roig in Mallorca. It added “a lot more value” to the training search process, he said. Swiatek also confirmed that Nadal will not be part of his team forever, but he was given the honor to train with him.
“I asked if it would be possible for him to come and maybe be some kind of inspiration, and get some feedback from him,” Swiatek said. “It was really a privilege to have him on the court. I didn’t have many expectations because I know he is very busy and has a lot of things to do, although he always has different plans and everything.
“Now I will continue with Francisco. He will be the person who oversees the whole process. It is the current plan, and there are no other plans at the moment.”
He takes his time
Swiatek added that Roig quickly helped to catch the technical aspects that did not work, allowed himself to change and not stay in “wrong habits.” The initial interaction has been very positive, Swiatek said. At the same time, you know that not everything will change in the blink of an eye and that it is something that happens gradually.
“Obviously if I didn’t do certain things right for certain months, it’s not like you’re going to wake up the next day, do the right thing, it’s going to be there,” Swiatek said. “I try to take my time. Francis encourages me to do the same.”
After his defeat in Miami, he said to emphasize that he did not play well enough to have expectations for himself, and before Stuttgart, Swiatek said that he will not like himself too much ahead of time.
“If you’re already winning a lot of titles, there’s always going to be expectations on you and coming out. I think my expectations were too high for the level I was playing. I wasn’t really playing well. So it was kind of heartbreaking. It’s like a cold shower, you know?
“That’s why my expectations would be to improve only in the training court, then maybe in the games, but in fact not to underestimate myself too much, not to judge quickly, but I really make it a complete process. As people say, it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon. I would like to come to the next games and have this kind of attitude.”
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