Iga Swiatek already spotted working on ‘the biggest problem’ in her game with new coach in practice

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Iga Swiatek already appears to have made noticeable changes to her game after hiring Francisco Roig.

Swiatek parted ways with Wim Fissette after 17 months together, following relatively poor results which culminated in an opening match defeat at the Miami Open.

The six-time Grand Slam champion then confirmed that she had hired Roig as her new coach, with Swiatek also receiving some advice from Rafael Nadal after training at his academy.

Swiatek’s serve has been an issue lately, and former top 10 player CoCo Vandeweghe believes that Roig has already helped implement changes to the shot.

CoCo Vandeweghe has noticed Iga Swiatek change her serve since working with Francisco Roig

When discussing the changes within Swiatek’s team on Tennis Channel, Vandeweghe highlighted her serve as ‘the biggest problem’ within her game.

However, Vandeweghe believes that she has already made alterations to her serve, from footage of her practices ahead of the Stuttgart Open, which she suggested should enable her to compete with the likes of Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina.

“Well, he’ll bring consistency,” Vandeweghe said about Roig, who was on Nadal’s team for 17 years. “That’s what the Spanish mindset is, being able to rebuild points, being able to use the forehand, finding the forehand a lot more in these rallies.

“And I noticed in a couple of the films that Iga looks like she has kind of tinkered with her serve a little bit. Her arm looks a little bit looser and I think that’s where the biggest problem was coming in Iga Swiatek’s game.

“She wasn’t able to make enough first serves or get the direction moving on her first serve, and that’s why Sabalenka was able to dominate or Rybakina in these rallies, or any of those big hitters.”

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Paul Annacone, who coached both Roger Federer and Pete Sampras, then weighed into the conversation and claimed that mindset is the biggest factor for Swiatek going forward.

“Well, the mind creates doubt or it creates confidence. Right now it’s creating doubt for Iga Swiatek,” said Annacone. The mind leads the body at this level, she’s all of a sudden not great and the stability that Coco’s talking about is exactly what she needs.

“To hear it from the great Rafael Nadal for a week alongside Francis Roig is a great combo. Get back to what you do, do it like you’ve done it in the past and just trust it. Get back to the ability where you’re not having huge reactions to whatever happens to you on the court. Remember, it’s not what happens to you, it’s how you react to it.

“So very little is about the tennis in my opinion, it’s about what’s going on between the ears and this should be a really good combination for her to get settled once again.”

Who is Iga Swiatek playing at her first WTA tournament with Francisco Roig?

Swiatek will play her first tournament with Roig on the indoor clay of Stuttgart, where she has won the title twice before.

As the third seed, Swiatek receives an automatic bye to the second round, where she could play either former champion Laura Siegemund or her compatriot Magdalena Frech.

Swiatek could play defending champion Jelena Ostapenko in the quarterfinals, who she has lost all six previous meetings against, with the most recent coming in Stuttgart last year.

Sabalenka withdrew from the Stuttgart Open, but Swiatek could have the opportunity to test herself against Rybakina if she reaches the semifinals.

The Stuttgart Open main draw gets underway on Monday, April 13, but Swiatek will not play her first match with Roig until her second round opponent is confirmed.