Iga Swiatek reveals what Wim Fisette told her to do which helped her beat Elena Rybakina even though she doubted him

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Iga Swiatek is one step closer to a record-fourth consecutive women’s French Open title, following her comeback win against Elena Rybakina.

Swiatek is one of the heavy favourites at Roland Garros, but she was close to bowing out of the tournament in the fourth round against the former Wimbledon champion.

Rybakina took the first set against the Pole and was up a break in the second set, but Swiatek fought her way back into the match to advance to the quarter-final.

Following her triumph, the former world number one took a moment to acknowledge the advice from her coach, Wim Fisette, which helped her get over the line.

Iga Swiatek reveals what her coach told her to do against Elena Rybakina

In her post-match press conference, Swiatek talked about stepping back on the opponent’s serve to get more returns in.

She said: “I have been practicing that a little bit. Wim, it was his plan to convince me sometimes to try it out.

“I never really thought that. I wasn’t sure if that was my thing because I remember a few years back, when I started being more aggressive, I started winning more.

“But I think girls are serving faster now, and everybody is developing, and there are some limits to what you can react to.

“So I think the coaching actually really helped me today because I would not have come up with this myself, even though I practiced it a little bit, it’s still a weird thing for me to do. But, for sure, it helped and it gave me more time to get back some balls.”

Iga Swiatek’s quarter-final opponent at Roland Garros

Swiatek’s next opponent is Elina Svitolina, who knocked out the Italian Open champion Jasmine Paolini to book her place in the French Open quarter-final.

Svitolina only has one win over the defending Roland Garros champion, which came at their first Grand Slam clash in 2023 at Wimbledon.

Their first meeting came in 2021 in Rome, their only meeting on clay, which the five-time major champion won.

Swiatek emerged victorious in their two most recent matches, at the Dubai Tennis Championships and the Miami Open.

The two will now meet at the French Open for the first time, fighting for a place in the semi-finals.