Coach Wim Fissette admits his "most troublesome second" with Iga Swiatek got here through the clay season, when the Pole entered with hefty expectations however didn't do nicely.
After kicking off her partnership with the Belgian coach in late 2024, the world No. 2 struggled by way of the opening three months of 2025 and had a few beautiful losses throughout that interval.
Though Swiatek's kind wasn't the most effective going into the clay season, she was nonetheless broadly considered probably the most dominant drive on the grime. Due to this fact, the idea was that the four-time French Open champion would do nicely on clay and switch the web page through the clay swing. Nevertheless it didn't occur after the previous world No. 1 acquired bounced within the Stuttgart quarterfinal, the Madrid semifinal, the Rome third spherical and the French Open semifinal.
Fissette: Swiatek might solely lose through the clay season…
“A tennis season all the time has highs and lows. It’s a part of tennis, and the highest gamers, they get out of the lows in a short time. And I feel that’s what Iga did this yr," the Belgian coach mentioned on Break Level.
“And you understand, the clay court docket season was a season the place she might solely lose, the expectations have been like… I’ve by no means been with a participant the place the expectations for a sure season have been that top. And it’s type of regular due to final yr. Nevertheless it’s by no means straightforward. You go into a brand new season the place the season earlier than you received Madrid, Rome, Paris, so you can not win factors, you may solely do much less good than you probably did the yr earlier than."
The clay season could have been an enormous disappointment for Fissette and Swiatek, however their massive second lastly got here at Wimbledon, the place the Pole lifted the title for the primary time. In the remainder of 2025, the world No. 2 additionally received the hard-court tournaments in Cincinnati and Seoul.
There is no such thing as a doubt that Swiatek will look to return to her clay dominance in 2026.
