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Iga Swiatek admits early pressure made transition to Wim Fissette ‘tricky’

Originally posted on HITC | By Matthew Johns | Last updated Nov 3, 2025 12:20 PM ET

Iga Swiatek has had to adapt to some significant changes this year, including a new coaching setup under Wim Fissette.

Swiatek ended her long-standing partnership with coach Tomasz Wiktorowski, who has since joined up with Naomi Osaka, following the 2024 US Open.

She then brought in Fissette, who has previously worked with Osaka as well as Kim Clijsters and Angelique Kerber.

The start of the 2025 season didn’t go to plan for Swiatek, leading to questions about whether Fissette was the right fit. She’s since spoken about some of the challenges she’s faced throughout the year.

Iga Swiatek discusses challenges early in Wim Fissette coaching partnership

After falling short at Roland Garros for the first time in four years, Swiatek dropped to her lowest ranking since 2021.

Swiatek had gone more than a year without a title before her form began to pick up again during the grass court season.

That run included a Wimbledon victory, a tournament where she hadn’t previously reached the final in her career.

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Speaking to The National, Swiatek explained how high expectations early in the season ended up being counterproductive for her.

“With Wim, I think the start of our relationship was pretty tricky because he joined my team after my three perfect seasons,” said Swiatek. “So there was kind of no space to go up. Actually, winning Wimbledon was the only thing that I wasn’t able to do before.

“But yeah, usually you change coaches because something was going wrong and you have this boost, but this time it was a bit different. So I wanted to win because I knew that he’s a super experienced coach, he has such knowledge, and I just felt like his knowledge plus my experience and the way I play should give us something big.

“So the first part of the season, the expectations were a bit too high. I should have just focused on playing and that’s it.”

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How Iga Swiatek’s 2025 season turned after Wimbledon

Swiatek’s form took a sharp turn for the better following Wimbledon, dropping just four matches out of 31 since then.

She’s picked up three titles in that stretch, adding wins at the Korea Open and Cincinnati Open to her breakthrough at Wimbledon.

However, despite the overall uptick in her results, her record against top-10 opponents has slightly dipped. Since Wimbledon, she’s won just two of four matches against players inside the top 10.

The latest of those victories came at the WTA Finals, where she comfortably beat Madison Keys in her opening round-robin match.

Swiatek will look to obtain another top-10 win when she takes on Elena Rybakina in her second match at the WTA Finals in Riyadh.

This article first appeared on HITC and was syndicated with permission.

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