Wim Fissette Reveals Iga Swiatek’s World No.1 Ambition Following Aryna Sabalenka’s 2025 Dominance

Iga Swiatek will end her 2025 season at this week’s Billie Jean King Cup play-offs with Poland. However, Swiatek failed to put up a fight against Aryna Sabalenka, who stayed at the World No.1 throughout the year. Her coach, Wim Fissette has revealed that the 24-year-old still aspires to overtake Sabalenka in the ATP rankings.

Sabalenka dominated the WTA this season, winning four titles and reaching nine tour-level finals. Her last final on tour was at the WTA Finals in Riyadh, where she fell to Elena Rybakina in three sets. Her only Grand Slam in 2025 came at the US Open, defeating World No.4 Amanda Anisimova in the final.

Meanwhile, Swiatek didn’t win a single title in the first half of the season. In fact, she dropped to World No.7 after failing to defend all her clay-court titles, including the Roland Garros. Her worst run during that period was at the Italian Open, where she crashed out in the third round after losing to Danielle Collins.

But things suddenly changed in July as Swiatek won her first title after a year at the Wimbledon Championship after beating Anisimova. She then went on to win the Cincinnati Open for the first time in her career and the Korean Open in September. But her run of form was mooted at the WTA Finals.

She failed to reach the semi-finals of the season-ending tournament after losing two consecutive matches. During Fissette’s interview with Sport.pl, he revealed that even though Swiatek has not been at the top of the rankings for over a year, she still holds her ambition to overtake her arch-rival Sabalenka:

Whatever happens, Iga (Swiatek) is already a legend. The priorities haven’t changed; she wants to be the best in the world, that’s the goal of the entire team. We want to win a Grand Slam tournament, or even several. We also aspire to win more victories in the WTA 1000 tournaments. Our intention is to get as close as possible to the world number one spot, and we know perfectly well what we need to do to achieve that.

The last time Swiatek was ranked No.1 was on the 20th of October, 2024. The following day, Sabalenka overtook the Polish star for the second time in the WTA rankings. Currently, the Belarusian star has a 2,475 points lead over Swiatek and doesn’t look like she will drop from the position any time soon.

Iga Swiatek’s coach goes in-depth on the Polish star 2026 schedule plan

Iga Swiatek has already announced that she will skip some tournaments next season despite the consequences. Her coach, Wim Fissette has also confirmed the move. Swiatek was the most vocal star on tour this season about the hectic long schedule on tour. The Polish star argued that there are many compulsory tournaments in the calendar.

During the aforementioned interview, Fissette was asked what Swiatek’s 2026 season would look like. Naomi Osaka’s former coach admitted that the 24-year-old is aiming to achieve a balanced schedule. He added that it has been the main focus of her pre-season ahead of the next year:

We will achieve this by balancing her schedule a bit more, giving her a few extra weeks of training. I think we clearly know which direction we need to go during the preseason: we will focus on the serve and the return. I am happy to see that Iga is serving faster and faster, with more variety in her serves and their directions.

Swiatek won her opening match at the WTA Finals against Madison Keys, but failed to conquer Elena Rybakina in the second round robin match in Riyadh. In one of the most entertaining matches of the tournament, Swiatek failed to get the better of Amanda Anisimova, losing to the American star in three sets.

Also Read: Boris Becker Reiterates that Alexander Zverev’s Problem are due to his Mentality

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