Why Iga Swiatek should not be changing coaches despite her recent struggles to find form

Iga Swiatek has some big decisions to make regarding her coaching partnership with Francisco Roig after recent results.

Swiatek hired Roig, who was part of Rafael Nadal’s team for 18 years, back in April, after she split from Wim Fissette.

This collaboration has produced some success, with Swiatek winning the Canadian Open back in August, but 2026 is also the first year since 2021 that she has not won a Grand Slam title.

Swiatek suffered a shock defeat to Elise Mertens at the China Open last week, and questions have started to re-emerge around whether Roig is really the right fit for her, but I think he should remain at the helm of her team.

Swiatek initially hired Roig for the clay court season for obvious reasons, not only is it her best surface, but it is also the surface that her coach has helped Nadal achieve so much success on.

Given that Swiatek is a four-time Roland Garros champion, it was a relatively disappointing clay court season for her, but there have been some clear improvements since then.

While Fissette helped Swiatek win Wimbledon for the first time, there was clearly a lot of confusion surrounding the direction her game was heading in. Roig has helped Swiatek return to her roots, and while the serve is still a shot that can break down, she is now playing with much more shape on her shots and looks more like the player who has won six Grand Slam titles.

This is reflected in Swiatek’s results, particularly during the North American hard court swing, where she won the title in Toronto and reached the semi-finals of the Cincinnati Open.

Swiatek achieved so much success from such an early stage in her career, having won six Grand Slams, and was world number one for a total of 125 weeks, which is the seventh most in WTA history.

As a result, Swiatek has set almost unrealistic standards for herself to maintain, particularly with the immense pressure she is under from both fans and herself.

Swiatek has not even had a full season with Roig yet, and that is exactly what she should give him next year to allow him to really implement the changes he wants to during the off-season and show if he really is the right fit for her team.

One of the many people who has been discussing Swiatek after the China Open is former world number four Greg Rusedski. In the latest edition of his podcast, Rusedski called Swiatek’s defeat to Mertens ‘painful’ as he suggested the potential issues he sees between Roig and her long-term psychologist, Daria Abramowicz, as he questioned how much longer this relationship will continue.

“We thought they were going to back on track after she won in Canada,” said Rusedski. “Then she lost that match where she was up 5-0 and that was the impetus. Then in Beijing the way she lost to Mertens was painful. I think there is a bit of a power dynamic between coach and psychologist going on and are they are on the same page?

“Team structure is fascinating because most teams will have the physical trainer, physical therapist, the coach, the agent, the parents and everybody has to be on board together and there has to be one strong voice.

“If you are the coach coming into a team that has been around for a long time, it is hard to become that strong voice straight away. It’s a tricky balancing act and I think there is a power struggling going on there. There’s a bit of confusion. If there is different messages coming from the coach, to the physio, to the trainer, to the parents. That causes disruption. It also can create a lack of confidence and cause not being clear on court.

“There are so many factors at play. For Swiatek we are thinking that this relationship should work well with Roig because of the style that he coaches. She has spent time at Rafa’s academy, so Rafa is there on top of that. It’s tricky because the expectation for Swiatek is always to win. It’s a pressure job that Roig is under there and it’s going to be interesting to see if it makes it through.

“She is very results-orientated and it always comes down to the player to make the decisions. She has the t-shirt already. She has been number one and won multiple slams and wants to get back there but hasn’t managed to do so quite yet. Watch this space. It will be interesting to see how long that continues.”

Swiatek will hope to put any disappointment from the China Open behind her in Wuhan, as she bids for one of the remaining qualification spots for this year’s WTA Finals. Swiatek has qualified for the last five WTA Finals, but is at risk of missing out this year as she is currently 10th in the race.

The world number nine will be hoping to boost her chances in Wuhan, where Swiatek will play her compatriot Magdalena Frech in her opening match.