"Very excited for this new chapter": Iga Swiatek officially adds Francisco Roig as her new coach ahead of clay court return

Iga Swiatek has officially added Francisco Roig as her new coach after an interesting few months for both parties in the lead up to their partnership now being confirmed.

Swiatek recently fired Wim Fissette from her team after her loss to Magda Linette at the Miami Open. Something which she said in an interview yesterday with Sportpl wasn't a snap decision so had been coming supposedly since she lost to Maria Sakkari in the Middle East.

But it was more about giving it a final chance to continue on before throwing it away, and while she has maintained the rest of the team, a bone of contention for those who have seen her psychologist, Daria Abramowicz, as a huge issue in her downfall. Her view on it is that many lauded her during their previous success, and now that Swiatek is going through a tough patch, it is very much that she is suddenly being hung out to dry.

Piotr Wozniacki was rumoured to be the coach of Swiatek after she had sacked Fissette. The dad of the former Grand Slam champion and World No.1 oversaw the rise of his daughter and also of course returned by her side when she ended up returning to the sport.

But while Wozniacki has denied that he will be joining her team, he did say that he would advise if needed just like when she hired her initial coach Tomasz Wiktorowski in which the duo had great success and that he is there if needed.

It was then reported soon after that Swiatek would report to the Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca for a training block ahead of Stuttgart, which begins the week after next and is her return to action ahead of a busy schedule including Madrid, Rome and of course Roland Garros.

It seems now that Roig will be joining her for that as Swiatek confirmed their partnership on social media. She wrote: "Welcome to the team, Francisco! Very excited for this new chapter."

Roig has been through an interesting time, too. Of course, the previous head coach of a certain Rafael Nadal, alongside Carlos Moya, Roig was in demand when Nadal ended up retiring and ended up coaching Emma Raducanu for a prolonged stint. But amid piling up losses and also Raducanu barely playing for the majority of the spring so far, they parted ways.

He then had a quick but not prolonged stint with Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, whom he left this past week after Miami to join up with Swiatek. It will be interesting now how he manages to change Swiatek's game. Formerly the coach of the King of Clay, he now hopes to revive the fortunes of the recent Queen of Clay.

The hiring of Francisco Roig is a clear signal that Swiatek is returning to her 'heavy topspin' roots. While her partnership with Wim Fissette was intended to sharpen her hard-court aggression, it arguably led to a 'flatter' ball that was vulnerable to the counter-punching of players like Magda Linette. Roig’s specialty—honed over two decades with Rafael Nadal—is the 'Spanish school' of point construction: using extreme RPMs to push opponents behind the baseline before executing a finishing blow. By training at the Nadal Academy and bringing Roig into her box, Swiatek is prioritizing the tactical 'solidity' she felt was missing in Doha and Miami. For the rest of the WTA field, a Swiatek coached by the man who built the 'King of Clay' is a terrifying prospect for the upcoming red-dirt season.