World No. 1 Iga Swiatek announced that she has parted ways with her coach Tomasz Wiktorowski. The French Open champion decided to split with Wiktorowski who joined her team before the 2022 season. Wiktorowski has been with Swiatek during four of her five Grand Slam wins including the last one in Roland Garros and led her to reach the top spot of the world rankings.
The 23-year-old added that she started to seek a replacement for Wiktorowski. She also has pulled out of the Wuhan Open. Swiatek has not played since losing to US Open finalist Jessica Pegula in the quarterfinals. She withdrew from the China Open due to personal reasons. Then, she admitted that she wanted to focus on finding a new coach within these couple of weeks.
Big Appreciation From Swiatek To Her Coach
Wiktorowski joined his compatriot Swiatek’s team towards the end of 2021. The 43-year-old coach was dealing with the player who had won one Grand Slam title and never reached the top spot in the WTA rankings. Wiktorowski, who previously coached Wimbledon finalist Agnieszka Radwanska, guided Swiatek to be a top-ranked player for 123 weeks up until now.
He also brought Swiatek to grab 19 titles, including four Majors and the Olympic bronze medal in Paris this year. “His experience, analytical, and strategic attitude and enormous knowledge about tennis helped us to achieve things I’ve never dreamed of only a few months after we started working together,” Swiatek said in her Instagram post.
Swiatek reached World No. 1 for the first time a few months after Wiktorowski’s arrival. The three-time French Open champion held the ranking for much of the pair’s partnership. Swiatek also held a 37-match winning streak record – the longest by a WTA player this century – during the 2022 season.
Swiatek Decided To Withdraw From Another Big Event
After announcing the coaching split, Swiatek decided to hold her comeback to the competition once again. She has officially withdrawn from the 1000 tournament in Wuhan, which will run from October 7-13. “After an important change in my sports team, I decided to withdraw from the tournament in Wuhan,” Swiatek said in a statement.
Swiatek stated that she is now trying to find a new coach and she revealed that she is looking for a coach outside of Poland. “I’m in the middle of first talks with coaches from abroad because I’m ready to take the next step of my career,” she said. Previously, Swiatek had decided not to defend her title in the China Open due to personal reasons. She is unlikely to play again until the WTA Finals which start on November 2.
Swiatek Would Possibly Drop Her Top Spot Rankings
Despite winning her fifth Grand Slam title at Roland Garros, Swiatek was disappointed with her hard court performances this season. She exited the Australian Open in the third round and the US Open in the quarterfinal stage. These two major trophies were claimed by Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka who is aiming to take the top WTA rankings.
Her decision to miss another tournament this month will loosen Swiatek’s grip on the World No. 1 spot even more. Aryna Sabalenka would likely have a chance to step in to replace her spot. Sabalenka just lost her opportunity to continue her winning streak after claiming the title in Cincinnati and the US Open.
Sabalenka’s loss to Karolina Muchova in the China Open quarterfinals has ended her 15-match winning streak. But with her new mentality, Sabalenka will possibly make her run to be on the top spot once again. She previously became the top-ranked player for eight weeks during the 2023 season.
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