Iga Swiatek’s ‘confidence’ questioned by Serena Williams’ ex-coach amid form struggles
Former doubles world No 1 and Grand Slam winner Rennae Stubbs has claimed “there’s a little bit of concern” regarding Iga Swiatek’s struggles in recent months.
Five-time Grand Slam champion and former world No 1 Swiatek is one of the most accomplished players of her generation, spending 125 weeks atop the WTA Rankings.
The 23-year-old is the winner of 22 WTA Tour titles and has won four French Open titles, alongside the 2022 US Open title.
However, Swiatek has not won a title since her fourth triumph at Roland Garros in June 2024, not even reaching a final since then.
The Pole has dominated the clay-court swing in recent years, winning in Madrid, Rome, and at the French Open in 2024.
However, her 2025 clay campaign started in underwhelming fashion at the WTA Stuttgart Open, falling in the last eight to eventual champion Jelena Ostapenko.
It was a sixth defeat to Ostapenko in as many meetings, and saw the Pole fall further behind current world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the WTA Rankings.
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Speaking on the Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast, six-time doubles major champion Stubbs – a former coach of Serena Williams – questioned the confidence of Swiatek after a challenging few months.
“Look at two or three years ago, she had a 37-match win streak, right,” said Stubbs.
“I mean from the Australian Open, the moment Ash Barty pulled out as number one player in the world, Iga won Indian Wells, Miami, every clay court tournament, the French Open, she was on fire.
“I call it a plaque on the brain. Right when you’re not confident, there’s little things that start getting into your brain and you’ve got to chip away at them. And so you got to chip away at this Iga matchup with Ostapenko in some way.
“But a lot of it is, she now has this scared feeling of: ‘I’m not winning and I’m not getting the wins on clay. What’s happening to me?’
“And so, is there concern?. Absolutely, I think there’s a little bit of concern.
“Can she get it back and right the ship in Madrid, Rome and the French for sure? But if she doesn’t, yes, I do worry about her psyche going forward because her game is so predicated on confidence.”
Despite failing to reach a final in 2025, Swiatek is fourth in the live WTA Race to Riyadh.
The Pole reached the last four of the Australian Open and was also a semi-finalist in Indian Wells and Doha, alongside reaching the Stuttgart, Miami, and Dubai quarter-finals.
