Who is Iga Swiatek’s new coach Wim Fissette? The Belgian has coached WTA stars to six Grand Slams
Iga Swiatek has concluded her search for a coach to replace Tomasz Wiktorowski by appointing Wim Fissette, but who is the esteemed Belgian?
The world No 1 secured 19 of her 22 WTA titles, including four of her five Grand Slams, while working with Polish coach Wiktorowski, who joined her team ahead of the 2022 season.
Swiatek, who last competed at the 2024 US Open in September, ended her collaboration with the Polish coach at the start of October. The 23-year-old withdrew from the WTA 1000 events in Beijing and Wuhan this month.
Prior to Wiktorowski, Swiatek was coached by another fellow Pole, Piotr Sierzputowski, from the start of 2016 until the end of the 2021 campaign. She won her first three titles, including the 2020 French Open, under Sierzputowski’s guidance.
In announcing her split with Wiktorowski, Swiatek explained she was focusing her search on coaches from abroad in order to “take the next step” in her career.
Who is Wim Fissette?
Wim Fissette was born on 22 March 1980 in Sint-Truiden, a city in the province of Limburg in the Flemish Region of Belgium. He is married and has two children.
The Belgian’s profile on the WTA website reveals his hobbies include “playing golf, soccer and running.”
On his website, Fissette explains: “At the age of seven, I fell in love with tennis. I became a top player in Belgium and later dreamed of becoming a coach.”
The 44-year-old adds he is “determined to help the world’s greatest players reach their full potential.”
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Fissette’s playing days
During his playing career, Fissette played on the ITF Futures tour in 1999 and 2000, reaching a career-high ATP ranking of world No 1,291 in August 1999.
He lost to an 18-year-old Nikolay Davydenko, a future world No 3 who was ranked 1,205th at the time, in the second round of a Futures event in Leun, Germany in July 1999.
Fissette’s outstanding coaching CV
Fissette reveals on his website that his dream of being a coach “became reality when I received the opportunity to train Kim Clijsters and other Grand Slam champions afterwards.”
Prior to joining Swiatek’s team, Fissette coached WTA players to six Grand Slam titles and two runner-up results at majors.
Swiatek is the sixth world No 1 who Fissette has worked with following Clijsters, Simona Halep, Victoria Azarenka, Angelique Kerber and Naomi Osaka.
He became Clijsters’ coach when his Belgian compatriot made a comeback in 2009, having worked as the world No 1’s hitting partner before her first retirement in 2007.
Under Fissette’s guidance, Clijsters won the 2009 US Open title as an unranked wildcard in just the third event on her return to the WTA Tour.
Clijsters defended her crown at the New York major in 2010, triumphed at the 2010 WTA Finals, won the 2011 Australian Open and also returned to the WTA world No 1 spot for a single week in 2011.
After splitting with Clijsters in September 2011, Fissette coached Sabine Lisicki to the 2013 Wimbledon final and Simona Halep to the 2014 French Open final.
Fissette worked with Victoria Azarenka, Petra Kvitova, Sara Errani and Johanna Konta between 2015 and 2017.
In 2017, Fissette joined Angelique Kerber’s team and helped the German to the 2018 Wimbledon title before the pair parted ways in October that year.
The Belgian then had a second spell as Azarenka’s coach from 2018 until the end of 2019, before joining forces with Naomi Osaka ahead of the 2020 season.
Osaka won the 2020 US Open and the 2021 Australian Open, her third and fourth Grand Slam titles, with Fissette in her coaching box.
In the Japanese star’s absence from the tour due to the birth of her first child, Wissette worked with Zheng Qinwen in the summer of 2023.
Fissette left Zheng to reunite with Osaka in September 2023 ahead of her comeback, before the pair parted ways in September 2024.
The 44-year-old has also been the coach of Belgium’s Billie Jean King Cup team since 2023.
