Iga Swiatek's quest to become a better player continues, and this time, she shocked everyone by making a decision to part ways with her coach, Tomasz Wiktorowski.
The Polish player is the reigning World No. 1 on the WTA Tour, but her spot might come under threat from Aryna Sabalenka in the coming weeks. Recently, Swiatek withdrew from the China Open, where she was the defending champion, meaning that she will lose 1,000 points.
That will allow her closest rival Sabalenka to catch up, and possibly, overtake her in the coming weeks. The Belarusian player improved massively in recent years, to the point that she might overtake the Pole as the top-ranked player in the 2024 WTA Race already during the China Open.
To do that, she needs to win the tournament, which might not be the easiest task, given the strength of the opposition. However, Sabalenka is on a 15-match winning streak, the longest in her tennis career, showing how strong she has been in recent weeks.
Maybe it was Sabalenka's success that motivated Swiatek to make this latest decision. After three successful years with Tomasz Wiktorowski, the duo has decided to part ways.
Since they started working together in 2022, following Swiatek's split from Piotr Sierzputowski, with whom she had worked since she was 15, the Polish player and Wiktorowski have enjoyed a lot of success.
Swiatek won four majors under Wiktorowski and added also nine WTA 1000 trophies, and over 120 weeks as the World No. 1 player. On top of that, in 2023, Wiktorowski was named the WTA Coach of the Year.
However, every journey comes to an end, and on October 4th, 2024, Swiatek announced the end of her coaching partnership with Wiktorowski.
"After 3 years of the greatest achievements in my career, together with my coach Tomasz Wiktorowski we decided to part ways. I want to start with a big thank you and appreciating our work together."
"Coach Wiktorowski joined my team for 3 seasons, when I strongly needed changes and a fresh approach to my game. His experience, analytical and strategic attitude and enormous knowledge about tennis helped us to achieve things I've never dreamed of only a few months after we started working together."
In her post, Swiatek highlighted on all of their achievements, and how Wiktorowski was the first person who stated the goal of reaching the World No. 1 spot for her.
"Our main goal was to become No. 1 player in the world and coach Wiktorowski was the one who said it first. We aimed very high, we headed to every tournament with a clear goal to win it. Together with coach Wiktorowski we won many tournaments and 4 Grand Slams."
Swiatek also mentioned her other team members, physio Maciej Ryszczuk and psychologist Daria Abramowicz, who contributed to the success.
"It happened thanks to my entire sports team, with my fitness coach and physio Maciej Ryszczuk and my psychologist Daria Abramowicz on board. Coach, THANK YOU, I wish you all the best. I know that you would like to rest after these 3 years of hard work and traveling a lot and spend some well deserved time with your loved ones and I hope you'll get what you need."
The Polish player also surprised by stating that she's looking for a coach, who won't be Polish, explaining that she wants to take the 'next step' in her tennis career.
"Due to this important change on my team, I give myself a couple of weeks to start a cooperation with a new coach. I'm in the middle of first talks with coaches from abroad (non-Polish), because I'm ready to take the next step in my career. I will let you know when I make a decision."