Polish tennis player Iga Swiatek, number one in the world, has started her participation in the US Open strongly, seeking to revalidate her title. In a notable match, Swiatek defeated Emiliana Arango of Colombia with a resounding 6-1, 6-2.
The victory, achieved at a precise hour, catapulted her to the second round of the tournament. Swiatek, who won the championship in 2022, is emerging as one of the favorites to win the title again.
Your next challenge will be to face Suzan Lamens from the Netherlands.
Swiatek has shown exceptional performance, winning 16 of her last 17 matches. This impressive performance includes her first title at Wimbledon and a victory at the Cincinnati Open.
This resurgence comes after a period of ups and downs in the clay season, where he has traditionally dominated, accumulating four Roland Garros titles.
A key factor in her recent success has been the collaboration with her coach, Wim Fissette, whom she thanked at the awards ceremony in Cincinnati.
Fissette, with experience in coaching figures like Kim Clijsters, Victoria Azarenka, Angelique Kerber, and Naomi Osaka, joined Swiatek’s team at the end of last year. Since then, he has played a key role in her recovery, focusing on minor technical adjustments.Iga Swiatek and Wim Fissette have been working together since the end of last year.
The tennis player overcame a difficult period after a one-month suspension for a doping case, where she tested positive for trimetazidine. Her form declined and she had difficulty managing expectations on clay. However, the work done in the preseason laid the groundwork for her comeback.
Swiatek stated that she feels back in her best form after Roland Garros, and that the learning process in the preseason has been key to her success at Wimbledon and on the hard courts of Cincinnati.
Although her attempt to obtain her fifth French Open title was interrupted by Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinals, Fissette’s influence was already evident two rounds earlier. During the fourth-round match against Elena Rybakina, Swiatek, who was losing 6-1, 2-0, received instructions from Fissette to step back a couple of steps when returning serve.
The strategy worked immediately, and Swiatek managed to defeat Rybakina. The momentum was underway. At the beginning of their collaboration, Swiatek told Fissette that she had difficulties on faster courts, and upon arriving at Wimbledon with more preparation time, Fissette focused on her footwork.
Fissette explained that they made a small change in the footwork, especially for faster surfaces. To convince her, he showed her videos of players like Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, and Jannik Sinner.
Finding the right coach is not an easy task, as Osaka and Coco Gauff, who recently changed coaches, can attest. And when you’ve spent 125 weeks as the world number one, it can be difficult to accept new ideas. But Fissette quickly learned to communicate his ideas, understanding that language was also important.
Swiatek has stated that she enjoys the process of working on ideas with Fissette. She acknowledges her own stubbornness, but values persuasion and evidence that convince her. If something works on the court, she adopts it without hesitation.
