Iga Swiatek has opened up on her decision to part ways with coach Wim Fissette for the first time, as she prepares to start the clay-court swing with a new mentor. Last week, the world No. 3 announced the end of her partnership with the Belgian ‘super coach’, who was in her corner as she won her maiden Wimbledon title last summer. Their split came off the back of Swiatek’s shock Miami Open loss, her first opening-round exit from a tournament since 2021.
It has since been reported that Swiatek will head to the Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca to prepare for the clay swing, and that Nadal himself has recommended a new coach to the six-time Major winner – Francisco Roig, who spent years working with Nadal, and coached Emma Raducanu as recently as January.
Although Swiatek refused to open up on Nadal’s potential role in helping her find a replacement coach, she candidly spoke about her decision to stop working with Fissette, and revealed that it had been on her mind for a while.
“This is between us. I don’t want to go into details. It’s definitely not something someone like me decides to do after one failure. I wouldn’t make such a decision lightly,” Swiatek told Sport.pl of her split from Fissette.
“Sometimes you can see me as an emotional person, but I really don’t make decisions impulsively. I’m quite rational. I like to give myself time to make decisions. Besides, I don’t make many changes within the team. I think that’s a very good approach. I like to give the team the opportunity to ‘reset’ and start working a little differently.
“However, in this case, I felt it was simply time for a change. Yes, it wasn’t a decision made in Miami – it was a longer process during which I carefully considered everything.”
Swiatek was ousted in the quarter-finals of the Qatar Open in February, blowing a one-set lead over Maria Sakkari. That seemed to be the catalyst for the world No. 3 to change something. And she ultimately decided to part ways with her coach.