Iga Swiatek arrived last year at the Caja Mágica in Madrid plunged into a deep crisis, after a year-long drought and unprotected technically, tactically, and emotionally. She had never been known to be so vulnerable. However, the Polish tennis player is not one to give up easily. “I am sure I can come back from any kind of crisis,” she said in an interview with this newspaper, convinced that the return would come sooner rather than later. And so it was. Barely a month and a half later, she lifted her fifth major, at Wimbledon, but after that achievement, she progressively lost her way again, and this 2026 translates into a succession of very discreet results, nothing befitting a competitor of her stature.
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So, to get back on track, the usual formula: work, work, and more work. She, a manual-driven Stakhanovite, first maneuvered —dismissed coach Wim Fissette— and then traveled to Mallorca. There she met with her new coach, Francis Roig, and with his help and Rafael Nadal’s advice, she embarked on a renovation whose goal is to be ready for Roland Garros. The Varsovian (24 years old) trained for a week in Manacor and from there, she tells journalists, she drew “inspiration.” Devoted to the Mallorcan, she believes she has obtained what is necessary to become again that “rock” that tortured rivals with an infernal ball pace on clay.
“Honestly, I didn’t expect that [Nadal] would say yes because he’s very busy, I’d say even more so than when he was on the circuit,” she introduces. “We talked a lot about his experiences and also about what I needed to adjust. He also conveyed a lot of calm to me and reminded me that I should look long-term, with perspective, even if focusing only on the next tournament. That helped me a lot,” extends Swiatek, who hasn’t played too much this season —five tournaments and the United Cup in January— and hasn’t been able to shine so far. Her record is 13 wins and seven losses —poor for a top player—, and in none of the events has she managed to break the quarter-final barrier.
“I’ve never trained as much as now,” she jokes. “But in tennis, you can’t expect anything. The only thing you can do is focus on the work and go match by match. Right now I’m focused on my first match, or rather not even on the match yet, but on training and adapting to the conditions,” specifies the winner of six majors; “I just want to make good use of the time and, then on court, be able to do what we’ve been working on with Francis.” That Francis is Roig, the man (58 years old) who seasoned Nadal’s tennis with his guidelines since 2005, when he joined the structure of the Balearic’s team as a collaborator. The link ended in 2022.
Shrimp and croquettes
The Barcelona native reached world No. 60 in singles (1992) and sealed his career as a doubles player (2001). After parting ways with Nadal, he advised Matteo Berrettini, Emma Raducanu, and briefly the Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard. “We met in Mallorca and I had the opportunity to train with him for ten days before my first match in Stuttgart [recently, April 15]. It was great. He has a very good eye and quickly detects what the player needs,” appreciates Swiatek, who to date has had four coaches —Sierzputowski and Wiktorowski, before Fissette and Roig— and now once again trusts in reversing the situation ahead of a crucial stretch of the season.
In 2025, she couldn’t capture her fourth consecutive title in Paris, defeated in the semifinals, but then she made up for it at Wimbledon, and now only Australia resists her among the four majors. Her last trophy dates back to August (Cincinnati), and now she adheres to the times of the process: miracles, to Lourdes. In tennis, there is rarely anything instantaneous. “He and I share the same way of seeing things,” she refers to Roig; “but changes don’t happen in a week or a month. Mentally, a series of things must be modified until they become automatic. I’m trying to be patient and don’t expect to play perfectly all of a sudden. The idea is there, the process has begun, and that makes me motivated.”
For now, the first test did not yield the desired result, as she fell in the second round of Stuttgart against Mirra Andreeva, but the Pole is confident that she has gained the necessary momentum on the island. She says she likes Spanish gastronomy and that these days she will eat some octopus and shrimp, and that she will also try a croquette or two. “But without overdoing it,” she clarifies, while also conveying that she will explore “local shops” and have “a good coffee” to try to reconquer the Madrid clay, which she made her own two years ago. “Spanish players are usually very solid, and that helps me,” while some rivals joked when they saw her receiving instructions from Nadal, such as Madison Keys: “That should be forbidden…!”
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