NEW YORK – Iga Swiatek is off to a strong start in her quest to win her second consecutive major as she defeated Columbia’s Emiliana Arango 6-1, 6-2 on Tuesday. She marched to Round 2 in just an hour and searched for all her favourites to double her open tally, winning the title here in 2022.
Swiatek has now won 16 of his last 17 matches. This is a run that includes her first Wimbledon title and her victory at the Cincinnati Open. It was an impressive return to top shape after a blip during Clay Court season when she traditionally dominated and held four Roland Garros titles to her name.
When World No. 2 accepted the winner’s trophy in Cincinnati earlier this month, it was noteworthy that the first person she thanked was her coach, Wim Fissette. The two seem to have formed a terrible partnership.
Fissette, who won majors with Kim Kreiters, Victoria Azarenka, Angelique Carver and Naomi in Osaka, was hired by Swiatek late last year. Since then, he has played an integral role in her revival, focusing on some small technical adjustments.
It took time as Swiatek handled fallout by carrying out a month’s ban after testing positive for the banned material, trimethazidine. Her shape slipped and she struggled to cope with the expectations of her clay shoulders. However, the work the pair did in the preseason laid the foundation for her comeback.
“After Roland Garros, I think I’ve returned to my usual self,” Sweet told reporters on the night before the US. “I think the whole thing is back with the process of learning like preseason. I certainly used it on Wimbledon and Cincinnati hard courts.”
Swiatek’s bid for the fifth French open title was concluded by Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-finals, but the influence of Fissette was apparently seen by everyone two rounds ahead. During the fourth round match against Elena Rivakina, Sweet followed 6-1, 2-0.
It worked quickly and she defeated Rivakina. The momentum was built. When they started working together, Swiatek told Fissette that after she struggled at faster courthouses and arrived at Wimbledon with more preparation time than usual, Fissette focused on her footwork.
“We generally changed our footwork a bit for faster surfaces,” Fisett told a small group of reporters at Wimbledon. “It was funny because I showed her, and she tried, but wasn’t sure. Then she asked me to show her some videos, but she said, not like (Novak) Jjokovic or (Carlos) Alcaraz, but a realistic video.
“I told her, you were a game changer in footwork, so if you want to go back to the next level, it would be better to look at Djokovic or Alkaraz or (Giannik) sinner as an example.
Finding the right coach is not easy, as Osaka and Coco Gough, who have recently switched coaches. And when you spend 125 weeks as the number one in the world, it can be hard to embrace new ideas. However, Fissette quickly learned how to communicate his ideas and realized that the language was important too.
“She’s always been working with the Polish team, so they use very specific words,” Fisett said. “(So) be so specific to understand something, so slowly find out which words don’t work for her. That’s a process I learned every week, and what’s a better way to coach her on the court.
Swiatek said he enjoys the process of working through ideas at Fissette.
“I’m a little stubborn,” she said. “So if there’s another idea, you definitely need to be persuaded and make sure you need evidence. If I’m going to court and yeah, this is actually working, so it helps me.
“But everything he said for me made sense. If he didn’t, we had to talk more and he had to explain a little more. I had to try again and again.
