Coach Francisco Roig Says Iga Swiatek Not Qualifying for WTA Finals ‘Won’t Be the End of the World’

Iga Swiatek stands in 10th place in the race to the WTA Finals. That means she has to perform well in the Asian swing to qualify for the year-end championships.

The six-time Grand Slam champion has played at the WTA Finals every season since qualifying for the first time in 2021, also winning it on her third appearance in 2023 by defeating Jessica Pegula. In the previous two seasons, she failed to qualify for the semifinals.

The World No.9 has so far won just one title this season. After adding Francisco Roig to her team following her first-round exit at the Miami Open, Swiatek reached her first final of the season in Toronto and beat Elena Rybakina to win her first title since clinching the 2025 Korea Open.

After losing to eventual runner-up Pegula in the Cincinnati semifinals, Swiatek suffered a straight-set upset at the hands of 2024 Paris Olympics gold medalist Qinwen Zheng in the fourth round of the US Open, where she had a successful campaign in 2022.

Now that the Grand Slam events are done and dusted after the US Open, one of Swiatek’s goals is to qualify for the WTA Finals, which will be held in Indian Wells from November 8 to 15. But if she fails to qualify, it won’t be the end of the world, said Roig during his interview with Radio Zet.

It’s definitely still a long way off, but yes, it’s our goal. However, if we don’t achieve it, it won’t be the end of the world. We’ll have a little more time to prepare as best we can for next season. Iga and I talked about the WTA Finals. The point is, if we perform well in the two upcoming tournaments, we could still be dependent on our opponents’ results. That’s why we want to try to achieve the best results possible without thinking about the WTA Finals. 

Swiatek will next be seen in action in Beijing at the WTA 1000 China Open, set to start on September 30. She won the tournament on her first appearance in 2023. Last year, her run ended in the fourth round.

Francisco Roig on Iga Swiatek’s defeat to Qinwen Zheng

Iga Swiatek had three set points in the first set against Qinwen Zheng in the fourth round of the US Open. She, in fact, had a 5-0 lead. But the Chinese ace went on to win seven straight games before upsetting the former World No. 1 with a 7-5, 6-3 scoreline. In that interview with Radio Zet, Francisco Roig admitted it was “really difficult” for him to rewatch the match as his protégé made a lot of errors.

And when you lose a game like that, it’s not easy. Zheng won seven games in a row. Madison Keys had a similar situation with her in the previous round, and that really mattered. I also want to note that the Chinese player played quite well – she didn’t make many errors and moved well. At first, she was perhaps a bit more lost.

The win helped Zheng improve her head-to-head record over Swiatek to 2-7. The 23-year-old first beat Swiatek in the semifinals of the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Zheng had also made a comeback from 0-5 in the deciding set to defeat 2025 Australian Open champion Madison Keys in the third round. But after upsetting Swiatek, she lost in three sets to eventual champion Elena Rybakina in the quarterfinals. It was the third time the 2024 Australian Open finalist reached the quarterfinals of the New York Major.

Also read: Kim Clijsters Praises Elena Rybakina’s Fitness Transformation After Rising to World No. 1 at the US Open