Iga Świątek regained her joy. “Listen to the timbre of her voice”

Our interlocutor is the first Polish tennis player to appear at the Olympic Games. The former player from Łódź is a true precursor of professional tennis in Poland. Nowak was also the first to advance to the top 50 of the WTA world ranking, which was a huge achievement in the 1990s, in Poland, which was in crisis after the transformation. Interestingly, in Grand Slam tournaments, Nowak achieved her best results on the courts. Roland Garros. In Paris in 1995, the Polish tennis player reached the third round.

Katarzyna Nowak, after her career, became a valued commentator and tennis tournament analyst on Polsat Sport for almost two decades. Regularly sharing his professional knowledge in other media until now. In a special interview for Wprost.pl, the former tennis player assessed the situation with the recent change of coach in Iga Świątek’s staff.

How will the fate of the recent WTA ranking leader be affected by the replacement of Tomasz Wiktorowski with Wim Fissette? The answer, as you can easily guess, is not clear.

– Most people, after Iga’s breakup with Tomek Wiktorowski, took a clear stance, assessing here and now what kind of cooperation it was. In addition, there were speculations, the whole situation with the change of coach became unpleasant, and the figure of Daria Abramowicz was mentioned in various light. I also heard such slogans: Oh, there will be a queue now, because Świątek is number 1, or currently number 2. This also surprised me, the position at the top does not mean that there will suddenly be a row of people willing to join. A trainer taking up such a challenge faces a very difficult and responsible task. Being in the spotlight all the time – notes Nowak.

There is no denying that in the case of the “Polish hell”, there was a lot of outrage. There have been many expert opinions pointing to the rightness or, on the contrary, the mistake made by the Polish tennis player.

– What’s also amazing is that all those who are not with Iga on a daily basis know best what she has to do. It’s a Polish specialty. There are several experts who specialize in this. An example would be the belief that now it must be a foreign coach and that’s it. And I think it is completely irrelevant what country Iga’s trainer comes from. The most important thing was to feel very good and there was great communication. It doesn’t have to be some big, well-known name either. History has repeatedly shown that such attempts to combine a top athlete or player with a great coaching name can bring no good – adds the 1992 Olympian with conviction.

Wim Fissette is the new coach of Iga Świątek. What does this mean for Polish women?

As for the achievements of the Belgian trainer, he certainly commands a lot of respect. The Belgian is 44 years old and Świątek will be the eleventh player in his career whom he will lead as head coach. Tennis fans can rightly link the new Polish coach with the past successes of the Belgian women. Specifically, we are talking about one of the two greats, namely Kim Clijsters. Under Fissette’s supervision, the Belgian achieved, among others, two Grand Slam titles each, winning the US Open and the Australian Open.

The list of players led by the Belgian also includes: Sabine Lisicki, Simona Halep, Johanna Konta, Angelique Kerber, Qinwen Zheng and Naomi Osaka. Names practically from the very top of the WTA. The argument about frequent changes in tennis players? Nowak explains what professional tennis realities look like.

– Only individuals in professional tennis work with one coach for most of their career. Justine Henin is such an extreme example. The Belgian was associated with Carlos Rodriguez and this duo functioned throughout practically the entire career of this famous tennis player. Novak Djokovic and Marian Vajda also spent a lot of time together. Now Carlos Alcaraz together with Juan Carlos Ferrero, although who knows whether they will hit the wall at some point. And they will start to wonder whether, since they have already achieved so much together and in a simple, human way, they need freshness, a new impulse in their career – Nowak analyzes.

Additionally, most of his former players speak positively about the Belgian. In this case, it seems that a lot depends on the approach, looking at the glass either half empty or half full.

– People in Poland mainly look at the negatives. Since he worked with so many tennis players, there is immediately an accusation about why he changed jobs so often, etc. I understand, journalistic curiosity or inquisitiveness, I have no problem with it. However, you need to have a broader perspective, because each subsequent collaboration with a tennis player is a completely different story. This cannot be translated one to one. Osaka and Halep spoke very positively about Iga’s new coach. This shows that the end of the cooperation did not mean a change in the assessment of the Belgian trainer’s skills (…) I was impressed by what Iga’s coach said about the story when he had the opportunity to see the Pole in action for the first time. Back then, it was still junior Wimbledon, won by Świątek in 2018. He paid attention to Iga, her way of playing and approaching tennis. Since then, the two have intersected numerous times in tournaments around the world. So Iga’s new coach certainly knows about the Pole. They know each other. Iga’s words bring joy. She has been waiting for a change and is very pleased. I appeal for respect for this decision. Listen to the timbre of Iga’s voice. With what joy, how she wanted some change in her team – adds the former tennis player, appreciating Fissette’s class.

Iga Świątek in new realities. It is worth appreciating the successes achieved so far

In her career so far, Świątek has won a total of 22 championship titles on courts almost all over the world. The Pole won five Grand Slams, four times at Roland Garros (2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024) and once at the US Open (2022). To this should be added the prestigious triumph in the WTA Finals (2023).

In addition, wins in WTA 1000 tournaments in: Rome (2021, 2022, 2024), Doha (2022 and 2024), Indian Wells (2022 and 2024), Miami (2022), Beijing (2023) and Madrid (2024) ). The list also includes WTA 500 competitions: Adelaide (2021), Stuttgart (2022 and 2023), San Diego (2022) and the aforementioned Doha (2023). Plus a Polish accent, WTA 250 in Warsaw (2023).

After the Olympic tournament in Paris (2024), a bronze medal of the Games should be added to this list. The first disc in the history of Polish Olympics taken from competition on tennis courts.

These successes cannot be forgotten, regardless of the fact that Świątek has recently had a worse period in terms of sports, which resulted in, among others, drop from first place in the WTA ranking.

– I noticed that something was wrong in the team at least since the games in Paris, if not even earlier, even before the Olympic tournament. It was possible to observe how the Iga staff behaved during matches. Please look, for example, at the people around Sabalenka. It’s not about whether I like Aryna or not. But there, in the headquarters, I have the impression that there is a different aura. They work together, make eye contact, see more joy. And at Iga’s? It was visible that everyone was sitting somewhere separately, Tomek higher, Daria a little lower, gloomy, without much smile. Even when she won, it was just some light show for the media. However, I do not want to treat this as an accusation. They did so much together, at some point they had to hit a wall and that’s how it had to end (…) The decision to break up is not made overnight. I was 90 percent sure about the change itself. The only thing that surprised me was the time, before the WTA Masters, I thought it would happen after the end of the season. If they decided to do it earlier, things must have already been very bad between them. It was building up. However, changes are necessary, not only in tennis, but also in life. This is a normal element of the entire process, Nowak analyzes, emphasizing the achievements of the Świątek team so far.

“It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon”

As many examples from the world of tennis show, changes in coaching staffs are a natural order of things. In such an individual sport, when players spend a lot of time with their teams of people throughout the year, perhaps the time for “new blood”, a breath of different solutions, will be beneficial for both parties.

When can we expect the results of Polish-Belgian cooperation on the courts? It seems that a lot of patience will be needed. Although the WTA or ATP calendar (in the case of men) does not intend to slow down at the end of the year.

– Iga must have time with the new coach so that we can at least start assessing this cooperation. I imagine that after a possibly unsuccessful WTA Masters tournament, there will soon be complaints in Poland that the change of coach did not help, etc. Of course, I keep my fingers crossed for Iga at the end of the season, but we will only find out whether the cooperation with the Belgian coach is successful. next year. Then we can start making any meaningful assessments. Iga herself emphasizes in interviews that this is not a sprint, but a marathon. Together with the new coach, they have long-term plans. Of course, time will verify this, because they may as well break up in six months. But you have to wait, because assessments based on several or a dozen weeks do not make sense. I will emphasize once again. Changes are a natural element in sports and we simply need them in life, says the tennis expert.

The next challenge is the aforementioned WTA Finals. The event will start at the beginning of November, scheduled for November 2-9. The venue for the event with the participation of eight of the best tennis players in the world will be the capital of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh. Świątek will defend the title won last year. Interestingly, this was also a turning point in the final WTA rankings at the end of 2023. After defeating Aryna Sabalenka in a direct fight, the Pole jumped over the tennis player from Minsk.

What will it be like in the 2024 edition? One thing is certain. Świątek’s return to the courts after a long absence, with a new coach on board, will be followed as closely as the name of the Masters winner.