Iga Swiatek claims ‘being on women’s tour not easy’ while praising coach Wim Fissette after she sprints into Australian Open third round
World No.2 Iga Swiatek lavished praise on Belgian coach Wim Fissette after breezing past Rebecca Sramkova at the Australian Open.
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Wim Fissette, Iga Swiatek (Images via X)
It was another normal day for Iga Swiatek. In the second round of the Australian Open, she took just 26 minutes to bagel Rebecca Sramkova in the first set, before winning the match with a scoreline of 6-0, 6-2.
Swiatek, who added Belgian coach Wim Fissette to her team last year, lauded him after the match. Fissette joined Swiatek’s entourage after the Pole parted ways with coach of three years, Tomasz Wiktorowski, while she was serving her three-week provisional suspension for failing a drug test.
Is he watching or not? [joked Swiatek when asked about Fissette.] He’s great. I feel like he’s really supportive. Being on the women’s tour isn’t easy. When most of the coaches are men, they need to also understand what we go through sometimes. Wim does that well. He uses his experience. Besides the stuff we do on the court, we have a nice relationship and can talk about many things.
Iga Swiatek said during her on-court interview
The five-time Grand Slam champion started her partnership with Fissette at the 2024 WTA Finals where the 23-year-old had a forgetful campaign, for she failed to secure a berth in the semifinal after losing her second group-stage match to Coco Gauff.
Before Swiatek, the 44-year-old was in four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka‘s team. Apart from these two Grand Slam winners, Fissette has worked with several Grand Slam winners, including four-time Major singles champion Kim Clijsters.
Iga Swiatek set to lock horns with Emma Raducanu in the third round
Iga Swiatek, after guiding Team Poland to the final of the United Cup, kickstarted her campaign in Melbourne with a straight-set win over Katerina Siniakova.
After breezing past Rebecca Sramkova, Swiatek has set up a third-round clash with Emma Raducanu who fended off best friend Amanda Anisimova 6-3, 7-5 in the second round. Swiatek and Raducanu will be locking horns for the fourth time in their career.
Raducanu, who has reached the third round at Melbourne Park for the first time, has never defeated the World No.2 in their three encounters. They met twice on clay, at the Stuttgart Open in 2022 and 2024, and once on hard court, at the 2023 Indian Wells. Swiatek won these three matches in straight sets.
The former World No.1, however, suffered an upset in the third round of the Australian Open last year as she failed to beat Linda Noskova. She has reached the semifinal once, in 2022. But in 2023, finalist Elena Rybakina defeated her in the fourth round.
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Gouri Das
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