Iga Swiatek Reveals Change in Approach After Mallorca Practice

Iga Swiatek to kick off her campaign in Madrid against either Daria Kasatkina or a qualifier.

Iga Swiatek Reveals Change in Approach After Mallorca Practice

Iga Swiatek (Image via X/Iga archive)

In Short
  • Iga Swiatek is focusing on improving her decision-making on the court after training with Rafael Nadal and Francisco Roig.
  • She has struggled to defeat top-10 players this season, failing to reach semi-finals in any tournament.
  • Swiatek enters the Madrid Open with points to defend after reaching the semi-finals last year, facing Daria Kasatkina in her opening match.

Iga Swiatek heads into the Madrid Open with a slim chance of winning the title following her run this season. However, on clay, the Polish star can be ruthless on the court and in top form. She’s counting on her training with Francisco Roig and Rafael Nadal in Mallorca to help get her to her best form in the Spanish capital.

One of Swiatek’s major struggles this season is beating a top-10 player on tour. The former World No.1 has not defeated any player in the WTA elite group, which has seen her fail to reach the semi-finals of any tournament this year. In fact, her best top 20 win came at the Indian Wells Open against Karolina Muchova, winning the tie 6-2, 6-0.

Swiatek trained with Nadal at the Rafael Nadal Academy in Mallorca. There, she also trained with her new coach, Roig, at the complex. Several players were scared that, having trained Nadal and Roig, she was going to be a better player on the court. But that was far from it at her first clay tournament in Stuttgart.

The World No.4 won one match and in the quarter-finals fell to Mirra Andreeva in three sets at the Stuttgart Open. She admitted after the loss that she didn’t expect everything to be smooth at her first tournament after training with Nadal in Mallorca. But her performance against Andreeva was highly criticized.

Swiatek sprayed 33 unforced errors against Andreeva. Some former tennis players, including Greg Rusedski, criticized the player for trying to change most of her style of play, stressing that she only needs to adjust her tactics. During her post-match press conference at the Madrid Open, Swiatek admitted that she wants to stop making rash decisions on the court:

Because Spanish players are usually, like, really solid, really fighting for every point. And, like, being ready for long rallies as well. So that’s why I feel like we have the same goals with Francis. I feel like after these practices in Mallorca, I’ve been able to not make any rash decisions. For example, when I play, like, sixth or seventh shot in a rally. Which I kind of did for the last year. So also the decision-making needs to change if you want to be more of a grinder.

Swiatek goes into the Madrid Open without much pressure but still has a lot of points to defend. She reached the semi-finals of the WTA 1000 tournament last year before losing to Coco Gauff in straight sets. However, she dropped three sets at the event, the most in years in a clay-court tournament.

Iga Swiatek admits Francisco Roig has brought a new perspective to her game

Iga Swiatek has often said that Rafael Nadal is her idol on tour. The Polish star dominated the clay-court season from 2021 to 2024. In fact, in 2024, she won the Madrid Open, Italian Open, and French Open and was regarded as the “Queen of Clay”, following in the footsteps of her idol Nadal on red dirt.

Francisco Roig, Iga Swiatek
Francisco Roig, Iga Swiatek (Image via X/nabald | 22)

She got a chance to train with Nadal at his academy and also had a one-on-one private chat with him as she aims to get to her best on tour. That might have formed her decision to hire Francisco Roig, who coached Nadal for over a decade. During the aforementioned interview, Swiatek admitted that it was exciting listening to the perspective of Nadal and Roig in Mallorca:

So it was really nice to get that perspective. He for sure has, obviously, a really good eye. So I feel like immediately he knew what to tell me sometimes. But still, these were like first practices on clay. So for me, it was a big challenge to have two new people on the court and start playing on clay after hard court. But it was really exciting.

Swiatek will kick off her campaign at the Madrid Open against Daria Kasatkina or a qualifier in the second round. She hopes that the Miami Open opening match disaster doesn’t repeat itself at the event. With Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka as the favorites, Swiatek will fancy her chances if causing an upset.

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