'This year as a whole she’s down in the mid-40s': Nick Kyrgios' ex-coach highlights reason behind Iga Swiatek's struggles this season

An ex-coach of Australia’s Nick Kyrgios, Simon Rye, has highlighted one area where Poland’s Iga Swiatek must improve if she wants to regain lost form ahead of the French Open. The 23-year-old, who is regarded as one of the best players currently playing in women’s tennis in the singles category, along with the likes of Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff, is going through a lean patch according to her high standards.

Swiatek has not won any competition since lifting the French Open last year, when she beat Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in the final in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1. This year, her struggles have intensified, as despite featuring in as many as eight competitions, she has not been able to secure a spot in the final.

During that time, she suffered defeats in the semifinals on four occasions. Swiatek’s most recent appearance came at the Rome Open, where she was defeated in the second round by America’s Danielle Collins in straight sets with a score of 6-1, 7-5. Those results have impacted Swiatek’s position in the WTA rankings as well, where she is currently placed fourth, and a win for Paolini in the final of the Rome Open can push her further down the rankings order.

Australia's tennis player Kyrgios’ ex-coach Rye recently spoke to the Tennis Podcast. He highlighted one area where Swiatek must improve to regain her form ahead of the second Grand Slam of the year, which is set to begin in less than two weeks. Rye was of the opinion that Swiatek’s second serve has proven to be her ‘Achilles heel’, something she must work on to defend her title in Paris.

‘You’re a four-time Roland Garros champion, a five-time major winner,” he said. “Now taking a bit of a deeper look, tracking back. We know one of the things that troubles Iga: if you can starve Iga of time and really play with weapons up in the court and threaten her with weapons. It’s not easy for her. She prefers a little more time on the ball, which is why clay is her preferred surface If there is an Achilles heel in her game, it’s her second serve. It’s not as easy to take advantage of the second serve on clay. That’s where I would be focusing if I was in the camp. Some concerns are on her second serve numbers. She’s lost lately to Gauff, to Ostapenko and to Collins. When she played Ostapenko in Stuttgart she won 39% of her second serve points. Against Gauff, 40% on her own second serve. When she played Collins, and this is the one that did concern me a little bit because Ostapenko can take the racket out of your hands at times, so can Gauff, but Collins, I wouldn’t have expected that to play out the way it did. She won just 22% of her second serve points. Last year, she’s winning 55% over the year as a whole. This year as a whole she’s down in the mid-40s. Her second serve, we know it’s an Achilles heel for her, is now starting to be exposed more than we’ve seen previously. This is one area where the competition are trying to pick her off. That’ll be where the coaching team are focusing.