Swiatek Gives Honest Verdict On Relationship With Coach Fissette After First Few Months
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Iga Swiatek was asked about her coach, Wim Fissette, ahead of the 2025 Qatar Open and answered by giving some interesting insights into their partnership.
Swiatek hired Fissette in October after splitting with long-term coach Tomasz Wiktorowski. Their first tournament together was at the 2024 WTA Finals, where the Pole did not reach the semifinal despite winning two of her three matches.
The four-time French Open champion showed positive signs in her opening two tournaments of 2025 with Fissette. She helped Team Poland progress to the United Cup final, finishing as the runner-up to Team USA.
Swiatek was the most impressive women's player in the 2025 Australian Open's first five rounds. The 23-year-old did not drop a set to make the semifinal and dominated in an ominous way for others in the draw.
However, Swiatek lost to the eventual champion Madison Keys in the semifinal despite holding a match point at 6-5, 40-30 in the second set. She would have played Aryna Sabalenka in a blockbuster final.
Nonetheless, the WTA world No. 2 is happy with the start of her partnership with Fissette. She told DAZN that he has good ideas for her tennis and that they get along well off the court.
"Working with Wim has been pretty refreshing. I'm happy that we are getting along well and for sure he has some good ideas for my tennis and for my game. So we're using as much time between the tournaments as possible to implement that."
Swiatek admits many practices are about adjusting to the conditions regardless of who the coach is, but also feels they have begun well together and likes the direction they are going in.
"The main goal in tennis is adjusting to the conditions we have on the Tour. So, a lot of practices are sometimes based just on that, but overall, I feel happy with the start of our collaboration and it's been positive. Off the court, we are getting along really well too, so I like it."
Fissette, despite not being an old coach at 44, has coached several top players. That includes two spells with Naomi Osaka, helping her win the 2020 US Open and 2021 Australian Open during their first spell.
The Belgian began working with Swiatek after an unsuccessful second period with Osaka from the start of the 2024 season until the end of that year's US Open. However, that did not dissuade Swiatek from hiring him.
Fissette's other achievements include being Kim Clijsters' coach for three of her Grand Slam titles and helping Angelique Kerber win the 2018 Wimbledon Championships, showing why he is held in high esteem.
Despite that impressive track record, working with Swiatek must have been one of the most daunting challenges he has accepted. Her dominance of the world No. 1 ranking until recently and five Grand Slams at 23 mean there is a lot more right than wrong with her game.
That means Fissette must manage the delicate balance of making improvements without changing what has worked before, but Swiatek's comments indicate he is doing this well.
