Iga Swiatek ‘irritated by headlines talking about falling apart or a mental crisis’
Iga Swiatek has defended her coach Wim Fissette and psychologist Daria Abramowicz following yet more negative reports in Polish media.
The five-time Grand Slam winner has struggled on and off the court in recent months as she has been unable to replicate her success from previous seasons so far this campaign as she hasn’t won a title since lifting the French Open last June.
Off the court, Swiatek replaced her long-term coach Tomasz Wiktorowski with Belgian Fissette in October last year while the following month she was hit with a one-month suspension after testing positive for the banned substance trimetazidine.
Her Roland Garros title run was also the last time she made it into a final on the WTA Tour and after losing in the semi-final of the Madrid Open, Swiatek looks set to lose her No 2 ranking to either Coco Gauff or Jessica Pegula after the Italian Open, where she is the defending champion.
During an interview with Poland’s SportoweFakty, she was asked if Fissette was responsible for her recent lack of success.
“No, this is a very harsh and unfair statement,” Swiatek replied. “I can only look at the coach from my own perspective, which is the only right one for me, that is, what our work looks like every day.
“The worse results coincided with many other challenges in recent months, also in family life. I found myself at a stage of my career where I had to reformulate my thinking about myself.”
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The 23-year-old believes she didn’t necessarily regress and it is a case of her main rivals world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff upping their game in recent months.
“The level of tennis in the world is getting higher and higher. The girls got to know my game, they developed themselves,” she stated.
“Coco Gauff, who has always been a great talent, is older today and has more experience. Aryna managed to make it through the semi-finals and began to win titles.”
Questions have also been raised about her sports psychologist Abramowicz, who has been part of her set-up for the past six years.
When asked if she considered ending their agreement, Swiatek stated: “No. People don’t know it, but practically every year there are different challenges.
“When I was suspended, I didn’t want to go out on the court at all for a few weeks. It was the most difficult experience of my career. Daria is a constant support for me, a person I trust. This is my team, I decide who is in it.
“I am irritated by headlines talking about falling apart or a mental crisis. Of course, sometimes I get annoyed on the court. Sometimes I’m not as focused as I’d like.
“But I work, day in and day out, week in and week out, to be better. So there is no reason to make strange judgments or look for fatigue or burnout.”
