Trouble in Paradise? Iga Swiatek Reveals SHOCKINGLY “Tricky” Start with New Coach, Sparking Fears of a Career-Derailing Mistake As Reports Claims…
Iga Świątek started her collaboration with coach Wim Fissette just before the 2024 WTA finals in Riyadh. It seems that the cooperation between them has been positive for both, with Świątek having high expectations regarding the future in the world of tennis.
The Polish tennis player has been an important figure in the tennis scene for years, breaking various records.
Cooperation with Tomasz Wiktorowski was fruitful, but Świątek decided it was time for changes and she hired Wim Fissette as her new coach.
In an interview with The National, she spoke openly about working with the Belgian coach, noting that cooperation with Wiktorowski did not end on bad terms, but that Wim was an experienced coach she wanted to have in her team.
“With Wim, I think the start of our relationship was pretty tricky because he joined my team after my three perfect seasons. So there was kind of no space to go up. Actually, winning Wimbledon was the only thing that I wasn’t able to do before. But yeah, usually you change coaches because something was going wrong and you have this boost, but this time it was a bit different.
So I wanted to win because I knew that he’s a super experienced coach, he has such knowledge, and I just felt like his knowledge plus my experience and the way I play should give us something big,” she told The National, as quoted by Sportskeeda.
“So the first part of the season, the expectations were a bit too high. I should have just focused on playing and that’s it,” the Pole added.
Wim Fissette reacts
Wim Fissette also stressed in a media interview that Świątek is sometimes difficult to cooperate with and is not always open to advice, but when she realizes that a change could bring benefits to the game, she is ready to adapt and listen to suggestions.
Świątek had a great season, winning her first Wimbledon, and was equally dominant at other major tournaments. The duo’s collaboration could last and bring great results for both sides.
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Carlos Alcaraz must overcome a mental obstacle to shine at the ATP Finals
It’s no secret that Carlos Alcaraz’s game is less impactful indoors than in other conditions and his results prove it, although he won his first indoor title just this year at the Rotterdam ATP 500. The Spanish ace – who missed the Rolex Shanghai Masters to fully recover from the left ankle injury he suffered in Tokyo – was hoping to get a good result at the Paris Masters 1000 last week, so as to ensure the certainty of ending the year at the top of the ATP rankings.
However, Carlitos’ performance against British player Cameron Norrie was disastrous in all respects and the 22-year-old from Murcia left the tournament already in the second round. As if that were not enough, the title at the ‘Défense Arena’ was won by his huge rival Jannik Sinner who overtook him at the top of the ranking a few days before the start of the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin.
This means that – if the Italian ace lifts the trophy again at the year-end Masters – Alcaraz will have to win at least three matches in Turin to end 2025 as number 1. He is practicing very hard these days to improve his game in indoor conditions and arrives in Turin in excellent shape, after he was eliminated already in the round robin in the last edition.
Alcaraz prepares for Turin
In a recent interview with ‘Eurosport’, former world number 1 Justine Henin analysed Carlos’ difficulties in indoor conditions in detail: “I think he has doubts when he plays indoors again, he’s not confident enough. In theory he would have the potential to play excellent tennis there too, but he has to overcome the mental obstacle that is limiting him.
He will have to manage the fatigue he has accumulated well and play without too much pressure, knowing that he has never particularly shone at the ATP Finals up to this point in his career. In addition, his main rival Sinner expresses his best tennis in these conditions.”
The ATP Finals will be staged at the Inalpi Arena from 9 to 16 November.
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