After a disappointing Miami Open campaign, Iga Swiatek called time on her partnership with coach Wim Fissette.
Under Fissette’s tutelage – which lasted 17 months – Swiatek won three WTA titles, including a first Wimbledon Ladies Singles.
However, Swiatek’s form dipped significantly at the start of this year, prompting the Pole to make a change.
Swiatek has called upon the assistance of coach Francisco Roig, who spent 17 years working with Rafael Nadal and most recently coached Emma Raducanu and Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.
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Brad Gilbert, the former coach of Coco Gauff, has offered his thoughts on Swiatek’s decision to hire Roig.
Brad Gilbert is interested to see whether Francisco Roig can adapt to Iga Swiatek’s preferred game style
“This being the first time that he’s going to be coaching somebody of this pedigree, it will be interesting to see if he can adapt to the player,” Gilbert said of Roig while speaking on the Big T Podcast.
“Because Emma [Raducanu] and him seemed like they had a difference in how she should play or wanted to play. And I like to think of Nick, as a coach, I don’t have a style.
“I feel like whenever I’m coaching a player, I’m just thinking about adapting to them, but how am I going to make them a better player? What do they need to work on? What do we need to manage to get better?”
Nick Monroe, a winner of four ATP doubles titles, continued the discussion, relaying the reasons behind Raducanu and Roig’s split.
These are two similar players,” Monroe said. “Emma Raducanu likes to play the first strike and she felt like Roig was kind of taking that away from her.
“He wanted her to kind of play a little bit more behind the baseline, extend the rally, work the point, maybe, you know, be able to play defence a little bit better, just trying to expand her game.
“She said, ‘look, that’s pretty much the reason why we stopped. I want to play the first strike tennis.’
“Iga Swiatek is also a player that likes to play the first strike tennis. She even said that a couple days ago. She said, ‘now I’m going to go back to what’s won me matches in the past and being aggressive.’
“It’ll be interesting to see if, as you said, if Roig will be able to adapt to the player. He needs to adapt to her and maybe not make her play the style that he wanted Emma Raducanu to play as well.
Gilbert then added: “So the big difference between those two [Swiatek and Raducanu] is movement.
“Iga is unbelievably fast. She’s probably the second best mover on the women’s tour behind Coco [Gauff]. So if he does want her to, or Rafa wants her, to maybe extend the points, she can do that.
“I feel like with Emma, maybe she doesn’t feel like she can do that. She probably needs to add that to her game. But it will be interesting to see how he does it – how much Rafa is going to be involved, because, what he’s been doing the last few days – you see him on the practice court – has to be invaluable.
“And he was showing her the ‘buggy whip’ forehand, I thought that was incredibly cool. A lot to learn from.
“And on this surface, at least you’re starting with a player that’s most comfortable on the surface. You know, she’s been great at Roland Garros, and can she put it together and all of a sudden get some wins?
“She’s yet to make a semi-final this year, but I think that you’re starting on a surface that she’s most familiar with.”
Monroe then concluded: “For Iga, she’s mentioned that she started to feel chaotic in her mind. She didn’t know what her game was, and that was a big reason between the split with Fissette. So, Francisco Roig is going to need to make it just more simple for her, not as complicated.”
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Swiatek is set to make her return to competitive play at the Stuttgart Open, which begins on April 13.
The Polish star will compete against the likes of Coco Gauff, Mirra Andreeva and Aryna Sabalenka for the title.
The event was last won by Jelena Ostapenko, who defeated Sabalenka in the 2025 final.
Iga Swiatek’s 2025 Stuttgart Open campaign
At the 2025 Stuttgart Open, Swiatek was the second seed and consequently received a bye through to the round of 16.
In the last 16, Swiatek comfortably defeated Croatian player Jana Fett, 6-2, 6-2.
However, her run came to an end in the quarter-finals as she was beaten 3-6, 6-3, 2-6 by 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko.
Remarkably, Ostapenko has won all six of her meetings with Swiatek on the WTA Tour.
| Tournament | Winner | Score |
| 2019 Birmingham | Ostapenko | 6-0, 6-2 |
| 2021 Indian Wells | Ostapenko | 6-4, 6-3 |
| 2022 Dubai | Ostapenko | 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 |
| 2023 US Open | Ostapenko | 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 |
| 2025 Qatar | Ostapenko | 6-3, 6-1 |
| 2025 Stuttgart | Ostapenko | 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 |
“Every time I step on the court with her, it’s another battle. I’m ready for it,” said Ostapenko, as per ESPN. “Even if I don’t feel great on the day, I will just fight and leave it all on the court.”
“I tried to be aggressive today and take time away from her because when she has time, she’s playing very well,”
