Iga Swiatek begins chapter with new coach Francisco Roig after "crazy boost of motivation" from Rafael Nadal

On Wednesday in Stuttgart, Francisco Roig was chatting with a fellow member of Iga Swiatek’s player box. Swiatek had just won the first set over Laura Siegemund by bulldozing a backhand winner down the line, and Roig appeared to be commenting, approvingly, on her swing. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Swiatek was looking over at him from her seat on court. He quickly lifted his hand and flashed her a thumbs up.

Roig and Swiatek, in their first match together, weren’t quite on the same page yet about when she likes to get her positive reinforcement. It’s safe to say they’ll get there. Otherwise, the Spaniard’s gesture was appropriate: Their debut was a thumbs-up type of performance. In Siegemund, Swiatek beat a pesky opponent who was playing in front of her home fans, and who has won this tournament before, 6-2, 6-3, with a minimum of drama and angst.

Up until now, it has been a pretty angsty season for the Pole. She doesn’t have an individual title. Her ranking has dropped from No. 2 to No. 4—a low number for someone who has spent 122 weeks at No. 1. Worse, she has failed to play her best, or anywhere near her best, in crucial moments; when she has needed to tighten the ship, she has let the errors flow instead. Finally, after losing to her 56th-ranked countrywoman Magda Linette in Miami, Iga had had enough. She parted ways with Wim Fissette, the coach who helped her to a Wimbledon title just last summer.

In place of Fissette, Swiatek went looking for a little Rafa magic. A lifetime acolyte of the clay king, she decided to start her preparation for the surface with a training block at his academy in Mallorca. The trip turned out to be everything she was looking for, and possibly a little more. It sounds like Iga got a full immersion into dirt-ball training, Spanish-style.

“I don’t think I ever spent so much time on court as I did in Mallorca,” she said on Wednesday. “A week full of grind.”

Not that she minded.

“With Rafa it was a really inspiring time,” she said. “Having him on the court was an extra crazy boost of motivation. He has that energy. Having him on court you want to show him the same kind of vibe.”

Swiatek liked Rafa’s academy so much she ended up walking away with one of his old coaches, Roig.

“I haven’t changed coaches often in my career, but I feel excited,” she says. “I was basically looking for someone with a good eye, really technical, but also a person that is experienced enough to help me through some different kind of situations.”

Having watched Roig during his practices with Nadal, and Swiatek during her practices with her old coach Piotr Wiktorowski, they seem like they could make a good match. Both, as Iga said, are highly technical, happy to stop everything to discuss the finer points of a stroke, and work on it until any problems are ironed out.

“I think you need to be really open minded, and soak in this new approach,” Swiatek says of working with Roig. “I feel like with Francisco, we have a similar view as far as how I should play.”

One stroke they’ll surely be going over is her serve. She double-faulted seven times on Wednesday. Also, for the first time, Swiatek won’t come into the clay season as the player to beat. That might help—she’ll face less pressure on a daily basis. And it might hurt—she won’t inspire the same kind of doubt in her opponents. A few of them have been waiting for the better part of this decade to get a crack at the big clay titles, and the mountain of ranking points, available in Stuttgart, Madrid, Rome, and Paris.

Looking down the current WTA rankings, it’s easy to see virtually anyone in the Top 12 or so winning one or more of those events over the next two months.

• Aryna Sabalenka is still seeking her first title at Roland Garros, and may still be bitter about the way she squandered her chance in last year’s wind-damaged final. Until proven otherwise, the Sunshine Double winner is the favorite at any tournament she enters.
• Elena Rybakina is on Sabalenka’s heels. She’s now ranked No. 2, and is coming off a title at the year’s first major. She’s not a dirt-baller by trade, but she has won four titles on the surface.
• Coco Gauff, defending champion in Paris, often turns her season around on clay. This year she’s off to a slightly faster start, having made the final in Miami and pushed Sabalenka to a third set.
• Jessica Pegula is only slightly off the Sabalenka-Rybakina pace in 2026. She’s 24-4 for the season, and has two titles, including Charleston on green clay. The 32-year-old has never won a red-clay title, but late-blooming is kind of her thing.
• Mirra Andreeva, then 17, looked like a serious Roland Garros contender at this time last year. Is she starting to look that way again? She just won a title on dirt in Linz. We know the talent is there, and Slam titles are almost surely in her future. How quickly she tames her teen temper may determine when that future arrives.
• That’s the top tier of clay hopefuls trying to claim Swiatek’s old crown. But there are others who can’t be dismissed: Amanda Anisimova, RG semifinalist back in 2019; Jasmine Paolini, winner in Rome a year ago; Karolina Muchova, former RG finalist; Elina Svitolina, who has been to the quarters in Paris five times, and is enjoying a career renaissance at 31.

With Rafa it was a really inspiring time. Having him on the court was an extra crazy boost of motivation. He has that energy. Having him on court you want to show him the same kind of vibe. Iga Swiatek

Match one for Swiatek-Roig was a thumbs up. They’ll be back at it Friday, possibly against Andreeva. In 2026, Iga bounced back from a disappointing clay season in time to win Wimbledon. Can she bounce back from a disappointing Sunshine Swing right away on dirt? Maybe some of that Rafa magic will rub off, though Swiatek knows it will take more than just inspiration, from him or anyone else.

“The other thing is actually doing it on the court,” she says. “The attitude and work is there, so I’m happy to start the process.”