Iga Swiatek had little interest in tennis as a teenager, but the one exception was Rafael Nadal. She spent her formative years idolising the Spaniard, who won 22 majors and, from afar, soon became one of his most avid students.
His influence is evident in the heavy topspin the Pole generates with her forehand, still a singular weapon on the women’s tour, proof of the intensity she demands of herself on every point and her four French Open titles earned by the time she was barely 23.
After a youth spent following Nadal’s career, Swiatek’s success allowed her to build a friendly rapport with him away from the court. Their friendship then came full circle this month as she found herself being coached by Nadal at his academy in Mallorca alongside her new full-time coach Francisco Roig, Nadal’s former coach of 18 years.
Roig, who has built a reputation for his technical expertise, worked with Emma Raducanu for six months until February. He then unceremoniously ended a brief partnership with the young Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard when Swiatek, one of the most accomplished champions of this era, came calling.
Not even Swiatek’s significant achievements, which include 125 weeks at No 1 and six grand slam titles, prepared her for the sensation of being on court with her idol: “The first 15 minutes of practice, I was so tight,” says Swiatek, laughing. “I was like: ‘Oh my God, how should I play? He’s watching, he’s right there.’ But, honestly, it was my first days on site so I also gave myself space. He knows how it is, he had every possible experience probably on the court. So no one expected me to play perfectly.”
The novelty of being coached by Nadal soon waned as Swiatek, who will be 25 at the end of May, trained her focus on the significant challenges ahead. This has been a bruising period and the aftermath of her dire second-round loss to Magda Linette at the Miami Open placed her at a crossroads. She starts her Madrid Open campaign on Thursday against Ukraine’s Daria Snigur.
Swiatek had been so great between 2022 and the first half of 2024, rolling through big titles and rapidly establishing herself as the most successful player of her generation, but the high standard she set challenged the rest of the tour to catch up. The quality of the top 10 has improved dramatically over the past few years, led by Aryna Sabalenka’s transformation. Even after a surprise Wimbledon title last year, Swiatek is ranked No 4. For a player of her calibre, it is not good enough. It came as no surprise when she opted to part ways with her coach, Wim Fissette, last month.
After a few weeks of training and ample discussions with Roig, it has been interesting to hear Swiatek speak with unusual clarity about the path forward. She possesses some of the most devastating weapons in the game with her destructive forehand, precise backhand and the relentless pressure she imposes on opponents with her return. However, most of her triumphs have also been based on the fine balance between her offensive and defensive skills. She is also one of the best athletes in the sport, meaning she is capable of locking down her game and forcing opponents to miss at any given time. More recently, in most tight matches against other top players, Swiatek would panic and overpress too often, hitting herself off the court. She now believes she must rediscover the sensation of feeling like a “wall” from the baseline, re-establishing the shot tolerance that once provided her with so many options.
She believes her consistency has waned in recent years because she focused on short shot patterns rather than more extended rallies, something she and Roig are trying to rectify. “You need to have this feeling in your head that you’re not going to miss a ball,” she says.
Swiatek’s serve, meanwhile, has been a discussion point for years. She has significantly improved her pace but it has always been her weakest point. Although she has made several changes to her service motion, she always resisted adjusting her elbow placement. Last week in Stuttgart, she emerged for her first tournament of the Roig era having finally done so.
When videos of Nadal coaching Swiatek spread across the internet, there was significant attention on the Spaniard seemingly teaching Swiatek how to strike his trademark lasso forehand. Swiatek, however, notes that Nadal was actually more focused on how she moves around the ball.
The Pole has long possessed some of the best footwork in the game on either tour, but Nadal and Roig concluded that Swiatek could sometimes actually be too intense, take too many steps, moving too harshly and striking too many balls off balance.
In some ways, Swiatek’s perspective on her footwork reflects her entire approach to the sport recently. Her intensity, discipline and effort are the driving force behind her success, but sometimes it is actually possible to try too hard: “Totally. 100%,” she says.
“Last year, I was trying really hard and nothing really clicked. So, for sure, I was trying too hard, yeah. I felt like I wanted to be more ready and lower but that made me quite heavy on the ground. You need to find a balance. Tennis is about smoothness and being fluid, adapting to different kinds of situations.”
In recent months, Swiatek has often focused on her mental approach when dissecting difficult results, particularly her tendency to overthink on and off court. Now she seems to have a clear vision for how she wants to play and a determination to address her technical issues with a coach well-suited to the task.
At a time when the top of the women’s tour is so competitive, the road ahead is tough. However, it was Swiatek’s ability and dominant results that played a large part in raising standards. Now she must overcome the monster she created.