"I would be a totally different person" - Iga Swiatek again forced to defend psychologist amid more scrutiny

Not for the first time, Iga Swiatek has been forced to defend her psychologist, Daria Abramowicz, from criticism as she continues to struggle for her best form.

Her team had a re-shuffle following a devastating end to the Sunshine swing. An early exit to the hands of fellow Pole Magda Linette was the last straw as Swiatek became very radical. She dumped Wim Fissette following a flourishing partnership, opting for a change.

This came in the form of Francisco Roig who had previously coached Rafael Nadal and most recently Emma Raducanu. He would now be asked to work his magic on the six-time Grand Slam champion who was not performing at her overall best level.

Without a title or even final appearance since the 2025 Korea Open in a period where she won three titles in three months, including Wimbledon and the Cincinnati Open. Those points will be on the line in the coming weeks with Swiatek not best placed to defend them.

Swiatek and Abramowicz have worked together from 2019, creating a strong bond together. Swiatek has credited her in the past for gaining confidence in herself on court.

However, for the fans it has fallen onto deaf ears. She has taken a huge amount of sucker blows following the 25-year-old's recent troubles. While Fisette was moved on, she stayed around which got a lot of perplexing looks from certain fans.

Swiatek has been forced to defend Abramowicz for a while now but again has come out to share her support in an interview with The Times. “People on social media like to give their opinions, but they don't know how we work and what kind of support I need and how much people that are in my position need trusted people," she said.

"Daria has been working with me since 2019. I would be a totally different person in terms of how I was at the time. I was super insecure. I didn't really have skills emotionally or even cognitively to play tennis at the level I needed to to achieve this kind of level, so she helped me develop myself as a player."

The partnership worked from the off. Abramowicz was approached in February of 2019 by a 17-year-old Swiatek ranked outside of the top 150. A couple of months later she was in a first WTA final, and in October 2020 she was a Grand Slam champion.

“And when I got my first successes, she also helped me handle it because you think [when] you win and it's all a dream come true and amazing, but there are so many things that change."

As previously stated, it is a daunting period for Swiatek. If she is not going to shake off this inconsistent show of performances on court, then a plummet in the WTA rankings is in store.

She has proven that the level is very much still there. At the Rome Open, she defeated Elisabetta Cocciaretto, Naomi Osaka and Jessica Pegula while dropping just seven games. She would bow out in the semi-finals to Elina Svitolina, again highlighting her struggles in defeating top 10 players.

Roland Garros was the latest disappointment. She not only lost to Marta Kostyuk in the last-16, a 6-1 second set drubbing was an ominous sign following losing six consecutive games.

Her grass preparation also has not gone the way hoped for. She had committed in competing in just one tournament, the Bad Homburg Open. The risk with that is if you lose in the first round, that is the final competitive action on grass you will likely get before Wimbledon. That is exactly what occurred, losing to Emma Navarro in three sets.

Her showing at Wimbledon last year was majestic, even by her standards. She won the last 20 games of the tournament to blast herself to glory. The final 12 coming in the final against a hapless Amanda Anisimova who did not enjoy her first ever Grand Slam final. While grass has not been a favourable surface for her in the past, those two weeks on court were a huge step in the right direction, not capitalised on enough. In a similar position to last year, Swiatek will hope to turn her form around with another deep run at SW19.