Iga Swiatek got off to a winning start at the Madrid Open (Image: Getty)
Iga Swiatek is reaping the rewards of a recent training block with Francisco Roig and Rafael Nadal in Mallorca. The world No. 4 hired Spanish coach Roig ahead of the clay season, and they trained at Nadal’s academy in Manacor, with the 22-time Grand Slam champion joining them on the practice court and getting very involved in their sessions.
The Polish star suffered a tough defeat in last week’s Stuttgart quarter-finals, but bounced back to start her Madrid Open campaign with a convincing 6-1 6-2 victory over Daria Snigur on Thursday, winning the last six games from 0-2 down, with her serve looking noticeably strong.
Swiatek has been tweaking her serve and started putting in the groundwork while training in Mallorca earlier this month, but it didn’t quite translate to the match court in Stuttgart. That was different at the Caja Magica, however, and the former champion in Madrid was happy to see her progress in action.
“I wouldn’t use past tense, because I feel like I’m still changing it, but this was the movement that I was supposed to already have in Stuttgart, but it didn’t really go as I wanted to,” Swiatek said of her new serve.
“I wasn’t quite sure, I mean, I analysed the matches after, and I realised that in Mallorca, I was serving a little bit differently. So today, I felt like this was it, and I just need to keep doing that, keep focusing on it, and remembering the right movement.
“Because in Stuttgart, I gotta say that I felt a that it’s gonna go a little bit more automatic, but a week in Mallorca is not enough for the body to remember the movement, so today, for sure, was a step forward.”
Swiatek has been open about wanting to implement changes to her game. It’s something she tried to do with her previous coach, Wim Fissette. But, at times, the world No. 4 fell into a pattern of becoming stressed during matches, and losing sight of her game plan.
Iga Swiatek prepared for the clay swing with a brief training block at Rafael Nadal’s academy (Image: Instagram @iga.swiatek)
Now, things are looking up after hiring Roig and enjoying a brief training block with Nadal. “Honestly, you never know with your body how fast you’re gonna catch a movement, so some shots, it’s easier for me to change, some, a little bit harder,” she explained.
“I’m not planning or expecting anything. But I, for sure, know that I have a lot of belief in this movement, and with my elbow being in this position and being more bent, so it’s something that we wanted to achieve [for] quite a long time, and when we adjusted my movement a little bit, it wasn’t really working.
“My hand always came back to the same position, but now we did a more drastic change, and I feel like it helped me to reset a little bit, and actually, from this reset, start the movement how I should.”
While she’s settling in well with new coach Roig, who previously worked with Emma Raducanu, Matteo Berrettini, and Nadal himself, Swiatek also knows that Nadal is there if she needs any advice.
She added: “I don’t know if he’s watching or not. I know he’s super busy, even more busy, I think, than when he played. So we’re not in constant touch, but I know that I can always ask him anything if I want. So this is really comforting, and it also shows how good of a person he is, that he’s available.”
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