Iga Swiatek stands by coach and psychologist despite recent winning struggles

INTERNATIONAL: World No. 2 Iga Swiatek stood up for her coach and psychologist after being questioned about her recent struggles, especially in her sporting career. 

The well-known athlete has not yet won any tournament this season and is losing her top world ranking. 

Swiatek’s season so far

The past few months have been difficult for Swiatek, who has won five Grand Slam titles, on and off the tennis court. Last October, she parted ways with coach Tomasz Wiktorowski, whom she had for three years. In November, she also accepted a one-month ban after testing positive for the banned substance trimetazidine.

In her attempt to turn this around, she added Belgian tennis coach Wim Fissette to her team. However, since her French Open victory last year, the athlete has had a hard time finding her best form once again, which made her the top player in the world back then. 

Recently, her attempt to win a title ended in disappointment, as Coco Gauff defeated her in the Madrid Open semifinals, with a final score of 6-1, 6-1. 

Due to these unfortunate events, reporters directly asked Swiatek if her new coach had something to do with her lack of success. 

Swiatek answered: “No, this is a very harsh and unfair statement… I can only look at the coach from my own perspective, which is the only right one for me, that is, what our work looks like every day.” 

She added: “The worse results coincided with many other challenges in recent months, also in family life. I found myself at a stage of my career where I had to reformulate my thinking about myself… The level of tennis in the world is getting higher and higher. The girls got to know my game, they developed themselves… Coco Gauff, who has always been a great talent, is older today and has more experience. Aryna (Sabalenka) managed to make it through the semi-finals and began to win titles.”

Moreover, when asked about her six years of working with sports psychologist Daria Abramowicz and if it produced positive outcomes, Swiatek declared: “No. People don’t know it, but practically every year, there are different challenges… When I was suspended, I didn’t want to go out on the court at all for a few weeks. It was the most difficult experience of my career. Daria is a constant support for me, a person I trust. This is my team, I decide who is in it.” 

She further stated: “I am irritated by headlines talking about falling apart or a mental crisis. Of course, sometimes I get annoyed on the court. Sometimes I’m not as focused as I’d like…But I work, day in and day out, week in and week out, to be better. So there is no reason to make strange judgments or look for fatigue or burnout.”

Aside from her team, Swiatek has been receiving support from her fans. In her recent social media post, Swiatek shared her experience at the Madrid Open with a caption: “🇪🇸Thank you Madrid. Another solid tournament in a row even if I was fighting for the better result. I had also most amazing time in the city, really enjoyed as always.”

Netizens expressed their support for her in the comments section: “You could win or lose a game but please enjoy this amazing sport 🫶”, “We are proud of you champ! Well done 🧡💪🏼”, “Always behind you Iga, we’ll never let you go 🫶”, and “Every tournament is a new experience .Take your time, Champ !! You will come back stronger 💪 Vamos !!”