Coach Wim Fissette Picks ‘Best’ Match Iga Swiatek Has Played in 2025

Iga Swiatek will be squaring off against Anastasia Zakharova or Sorana Cirstea to kick-start her campaign at the Korea Open.

Coach Wim Fissette Picks ‘Best’ Match Iga Swiatek Has Played in 2025

Wim Fissette, Iga Swiatek (Image via X/Jimmy48 Photography)

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Iga Swiatek is in Seoul bidding to win her third title of the season. Earlier this year, Swiatek was struggling to win her tournaments even though she was making deep runs in almost every tournament she played.

That changed at the Bad Homburg Open when she finally reached a final for the first time this season. Although she lost that match to Jessica Pegula, she was successful in ending Wimbledon in her favor by dismantling Amanda Anisimova 6-0, 6-0, also winning her first title on grass, her least favorite surface.

Swiatek was scheduled to make her debut at the Korea Open last year, but because of her three-week provisional suspension due to the doping case, she missed it and chose to play the WTA 500 (upgraded from 250 to 500 last year) this season. Recently, her coach, Wim Fissette– whom she hired last year- sat for an interview with Polish media Sport, and there he was asked about the best match Swiatek has played this season.

Fissette picked the semifinal match that Swiatek played against Elena Rybakina. The Pole hit seven aces to Rybakina’s 10 and had a first serve percentage of 69 percent to Rybakina’s 66. Swiatek also won 42 service points.

That’s a tough question. Honestly, I think the match against Rybakina in Cincinnati was definitely one of the best. Iga served really well and returned well. She was very strong from the baseline on a surface that’s definitely better for her opponent. She simply played great tennis. She [Rybakina] played well, too. It was a great match overall. I think that one is definitely up there.

After knocking out the Kazakh ace, the six-time Grand Slam champion defeated Jasmine Paolini to win her first title at the Cincinnati Masters after two semifinal exits in the previous two seasons. It was her 11th WTA 1000 trophy of her career, as well as her first since last year’s Italian Open, which she won by beating Aryna Sabalenka.

Wim Fissette on the problem Iga Swiatek faced during the US Open

Iga Swiatek blamed not practicing much after her defeat to eventual runner-up Amanda Anisimova in the US Open quarterfinal. During that interview with Sport, Wim Fissette explained the problem in detail.

Iga Swiatek (via X/The Tennis Letter)
Iga Swiatek (via X/The Tennis Letter)

At the US Open, the main problem was that we couldn’t practice. During matches, when there’s more pressure, we focus on the result, of course. Sometimes it happens that, especially serving technique, deteriorates a bit, and we have to deal with it. That’s what the days between matches are for, when you can improve your technique, and we clearly missed out on those training days.

At the Korea Open, the first seed will lock horns with Anastasia Zakharova or Sorana Cirstea in the second round. Swiatek is chasing her first WTA 500 title of the season.

Swiatek has so far featured in seven finals at WTA 500 events, winning five titles. Last year, although she reached five finals and won them all, none of them were in a WTA 500 tournament. The last WTA 500 event she won was the 2023 Stuttgart Open by defeating Sabalenka.

If she wins the tournament, it still won’t be enough to reclaim her No.1 ranking from Aryna Sabalenka, who sits comfortably with 11,225 points after her US Open title defense. World No.2 Swiatek has 7,933 points. The win at least will help Swiatek increase her ranking lead over third-placed Coco Gauff.

After Korea, Swiatek will be playing the WTA 1000 China Open, a mandatory tournament she missed last year because of the doping ban. Following Beijing, Swiatek will be heading toward Wuhan for another WTA 1000 tournament.

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