Hey there, fellow tennis enthusiasts It’s your girl Mia Johnson-Carter here, living the dream in Miami. Today, I’m super excited to dive into one of the most fascinating stories in professional tennis – Iga Swiatek and her new coach, Wim Fissette. Let’s break it down and see what this partnership could mean for the Polish star.
Iga Swiatek, the current world No. 2, has been making waves in the tennis world with her incredible performances on clay courts. However, her journey hasn’t been without challenges. After missing the entire Asian swing, Swiatek announced on October 17th that she was hiring Wim Fissette as her new coach. This move comes after she parted ways with her previous coach, Tomasz Wiktorowski, and Naomi Osaka also parted ways with Fissette.
Swiatek’s decision to hire Fissette is seen as a strategic move to improve her game on faster surfaces. As a four-time French Open champion, Swiatek has dominated clay courts but hasn’t yet achieved the same level of success on other surfaces like grass and hard courts. Fissette’s experience in guiding top players like Naomi Osaka to two Grand Slam titles is a significant advantage for Swiatek.
According to an interview with Eurosport Poland, Fissette’s goal is clear: “Our goal is for Swiatek to start adding more Grand Slam titles on other surfaces as well. The clay-court season has its own twists. There are a lot of matches and tournaments played in a short period of time. You need to get into a rhythm, gain confidence, and after Paris it’s time to switch to other surfaces. Then there will be an opportunity to work on playing on other surfaces and try to succeed there.”
Fissette also emphasized the importance of preparation for big matches. “Top players want to play big matches, that’s their main motivation. They usually don’t have problems with it, it makes them happy. How do I work? I have information, videos. I prepare my players, we discuss strengths and weaknesses, prepare tactically and draw conclusions. In the case of tennis players like Aryna Sabalenka or Elena Rybakina, you make an analysis and look for a way to beat them.”
The collaboration between Swiatek and Fissette is expected to be a long-term partnership, with both parties excited about the potential they see in each other. Swiatek expressed her enthusiasm in a video announcement: “I have some news for you today. I have to tell you that I am excited and motivated to start a new chapter in my career. I am happy to announce that Wim Fissette will be joining our team. As you know, I am preparing for the WTA Finals, but this is a long-term choice, not a short-term one.”
Former doubles world No. 1 Rennae Stubbs has high expectations for this partnership. On The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast, she shared her thoughts: “Listen what do I think about how it’s going to go. I think it’ll go great because Wim will come in with new ideas and fresh ideas, he’s a little bit and not a little bit, he’s a lot more upbeat and a lot more positive than Tomasz. Working with Iga or something ‘cause Iga clearly when she’s on the court, she gets very stressed and all the things you see and you have to be able to monitor that. I think Iga will probably do great and will look like a legend.”
Swiatek and Fissette will officially debut as a duo at the WTA Finals in Riyadh next week. This new chapter in Swiatek’s career is one that promises exciting developments both on and off the court.
If you want, you can check out the news where I found it here.
Yours truly,
Mia
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