Tennis: Francisco Roig named Swiatek’s new coach

Swiatek starts a fresh chapter

You can know the WTA Tour inside out and still get jolted awake by an announcement that lands like a clean winner down the line. The world No. 4 has now made official what was already doing the rounds behind the scenes: she’s back in business with a new guide, a detail-obsessed builder, a brain used to the very top table. And that man is Francisco Roig.

The confirmation came in an Instagram story, plain, tidy, almost solemn. A photo on the indoor clay at Rafael Nadal’s academy in Manacor. Easy smiles, rackets on the ground, and that line that reads like a promise: “Very excited for this new chapter.” No drama, no fluff. Just a 24-year-old star choosing to keep the standards high while changing the approach.

Rafa Nadal 🤝 Iga Swiatek

Premium clay-court prep for Swiatek at the Rafa Nadal Academy, with Francisco Roig… and Rafa himself watching on 👀🔥

VIP coaching? Could be.

📸 IG/visionsports_official pic.twitter.com/cFcCaEiYgN

— DS Tennis🎾 (@DieunipherDS) April 2, 2026

A clear break after Wim Fissette

If this move hits hard, it’s because the timing matters. The Pole had only just confirmed the end of her partnership with Wim Fissette, the man who helped guide her to Wimbledon last year. It was a productive duo, but it barely lasted beyond a glorious spell. Modern tennis doesn’t sit around waiting for anyone, and Swiatek, obsessive perfectionist that she is, has proved it again.

So in Manacor, she didn’t just turn up for a sunny photo op. She went looking for a philosophy, for a kind of old-school discipline. Roig isn’t just another coach with a CV longer than a five-set scoreline. He spent almost 20 years in Nadal’s shadow, a trusted hand who knows the hard road to the top and the toll it takes to get there.

The Roig call: know-how, patience, clay-court DNA

Before linking up with the Pole, Roig had a brief spell with Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, French tennis’s big project. That one was over quickly, wrapping up after Indian Wells and Miami. Perricard is now working with Philippe Dehaes, but Roig’s stop-off still left the same impression: he picks his battles carefully. And Swiatek is, without question, one of the most intriguing ones around.

His job? Tweak a machine that already frightens most of the field without smothering what makes it tick. Swiatek is the kind of player who can suffocate opponents in a way few others can. Intensity, court coverage, sharp changes of pace, quick-fire reading of the game. But over the past few months, the engine wasn’t quite roaring as loudly. The desire was there, the results too, but the spark was missing. Roig’s fresh eyes might just be the fuel she needs.

The new partnership will make its competitive debut at the WTA 500 in Stuttgart in mid-April. A perfect test, really: once clay comes into view, Swiatek breathes easier, sees the court more clearly and takes control harder. Four Roland-Garros titles don’t come from nowhere. For her, clay isn’t just a surface. It’s home turf.

A bold gamble, a new horizon

In this next chapter, the Pole isn’t chasing headlines. She’s chasing a direction. Roig, meanwhile, brings his feel for tempo, his reading of emotions, his experience with champions who had no room for slack. If the two click, if the chemistry’s there, this could turn into something special.

Tennis loves a comeback story. This one starts with a simple image: a player, a coach, a red court. And a message that’s quiet but loaded. Swiatek keeps moving. Again. Always. And if her future ends up written in capital letters once more, this Thursday was the first line of the script.