{"id":14720,"date":"2026-03-07T08:22:03","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T08:22:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/soccer90mins.com\/?p=14720"},"modified":"2026-03-07T08:22:03","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T08:22:03","slug":"incoming-how-wim-fissette-helped-iga-swiatek-rethink-a-winning-formula","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/soccer90mins.com\/?p=14720","title":{"rendered":"INCOMING: How Wim Fissette helped Iga Swiatek rethink a winning formula"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Iga<\/p>\n

INDIAN WELLS — Wim Fissette, animated and engaged, is holding another coaching clinic.<\/p>\n

Sitting in the BNP Paribas Open player\u2019s lounge on Wednesday afternoon, he easily could be a college professor systematically breaking down the curious properties of chemical elements or the foundations of physics.<\/p>\n

But this tutorial is focused on his current charge,\u00a0Iga Swiatek<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Swiatek-Torso_326408\"<\/picture><\/div>\n

, the No. 2-ranked woman in the world and holder of six Grand Slam singles titles.<\/p>\n

At this elite level, being a student of the game is not enough. The very best coaches — and this is true of all sports — are actually talented teachers. They convey their concepts to the player with enough clarity that they can implement the changes necessary to achieve them.<\/p>\n

It requires a diverse toolkit: vast technical knowledge, fluent social skills — and the ability to consistently win persuasive arguments.<\/p>\n

No coach working in today\u2019s WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz does it quite like Fissette. In the span of 18 remarkable years, he has coached seven different Grand Slam champions — Kim Clijsters, Simona Halep,\u00a0Victoria Azarenka<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Azarenka-Torso_312001\"<\/picture><\/div>\n

, Petra Kvitova, Angelique Kerber,\u00a0Naomi Osaka<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Osaka-Torso_319998\"<\/picture><\/div>\n

and, now, Swiatek.<\/p>\n

Last year, Fissette engineered one of the greatest, slightly under-the-radar coaching efforts in recent years, guiding Swiatek to a stunning title run at Wimbledon that she and many others thought was out of her reach.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst of all,\u201d Fissette explained, \u201ceverything starts with a vision, right? You go into the grass from the clay-court season. \u2026 OK, this is the winning game plan, how you\u2019re going to win this tournament. That\u2019s the start. The most difficult part is to get the player behind it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Swiatek won four titles on the red clay at Roland Garros in a span of five years, thriving on the high bounces and the slower pace of play. Grass, with its low, skidding balls, gave her fits. Going into last year, Swiatek was 15-8 (.652) on the slick surface, well behind her winning percentage on clay and hard courts.<\/p>\n

But by stepping out of her comfort zone, amping up her serve, and willing herself to accept more risk — for the possibility of greater rewards — Swiatek became the Wimbledon champion. She lost only two games in her final two matches, against\u00a0Belinda Bencic<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Bencic-Torso_319001\"<\/picture><\/div>\n

and, in the final,\u00a0Amanda Anisimova<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Anisimova-Torso_326384\"<\/picture><\/div>\n

.<\/p>\n

Swiatek is the only active woman to win a Grand Slam singles title on each of the three surfaces — and she\u2019s only 24.<\/p>\n

The 2026 season has been a work in progress for Fissette and Swiatek — she\u2019s 9-4 so far — who continue to make tweaks to her game. She plays her first match here on Saturday, against the winner of Thursday\u2019s first-round contest between\u00a0Francesca Jones<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Jones-Torso_324479\"<\/picture><\/div>\n

and qualifier\u00a0Kayla Day<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Day-Torso_322534<\/picture><\/div>\n

.<\/p>\n

Before the shots started counting, Fissette sat down with wtatennis.com in a fascinating, far-ranging conversation:<\/p>\n

How did you convince Iga to change the game that was so successful on clay, allowing her to win Wimbledon?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The advantage for me, in a way, was that she didn\u2019t have any success on the grass before. So she was like super open about it, which is different than other surfaces because she won [Roland Garros and the US Open on hard courts]. She was like, ‘Wim, I don\u2019t really know what to do. Just tell me.\u2019 Her expectations were quite low.<\/p>\n

So every little improvement brought her joy and, step by step, made her believe a little bit more. And then of course you have the technical difficulties on a certain surface. For some, it\u2019s the high bounce on the clay. For Iga, [on grass] it\u2019s the lower balls in the corners, right? Then the player has that in their head, and you can make improvements in the technical footwork and the technical execution of some shots. And then you come to the place where you believe a little bit more. And then you need wins. Because practice is one thing, but matches are another.<\/p>\n

\n
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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

How critical was reaching the final at Bad Homburg going into Wimbledon?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bad Homburg was important. Because she was open to trying things from the practice. She tried and it immediately worked quite well, and she improved match by match [beating 2024 Wimbledon finalist\u00a0Jasmine Paolini<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Paolini-Torso_319280\"<\/picture><\/div>\n

6-1, 6-2 in the semifinals]. For her, going into the final at Bad Homburg, loose against a very good grass player [Jessica Pegula<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Pegula-Torso_316956<\/picture><\/div>\n

, who won 6-4, 7-5]. It made her quite confident going into Wimbledon that she might win a few rounds.<\/p>\n

Which traits of those great players you\u2019ve coached did you see in Iga when you started working together in the fall of 2024?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ooof! It\u2019s hard to compare players, but \u2026 I think in a way, someone like [Angelique] Kerber. The mentality, which is like super rational, maybe a more negative than positive attitude. Just skeptical and a little bit stubborn [laughing]. But really hard working, fighting, also being let\u2019s say a great mover.<\/p>\n

What were some of the specific areas you addressed at the beginning?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I think we were on the same line there — to play better on the faster surfaces, yes? That was the challenge, and for me a clear goal. That was something I already had solutions for, having coached against her. Serve was one. She was more going for body serves, middle, high-percentage, and now she’s serving more to spots. Another thing on fast surfaces, positioning herself back [on return, particularly] so that she has time to hit her shots, more like clay.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

Iga is built different \ud83d\udcaa@iga_swiatek<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0#TennisParadise<\/a>\u00a0pic.twitter.com\/SccVTBs603<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 BNP Paribas Open (@BNPPARIBASOPEN)\u00a0February 5, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

And the third is the footwork on faster, lower balls. On footwork, you have the intensity but also the technical, which is different on every surface. That\u2019s something that we really focused on.<\/p>\n

In some ways, Iga is a victim of her own success \u2026 She\u2019s won more Grand Slam singles titles (six) than anyone you\u2019ve ever coached. She\u2019s only 24 years old, but she doesn\u2019t seem terribly impressed.<\/strong><\/p>\n

No, because she\u2019s somebody that doesn\u2019t really look back. She only looks forward. She looks at today and tomorrow. She\u2019s got her feet on the ground. She knows if she doesn\u2019t bring the work every single day and the focus that success \u2026 stops at some point. She obviously loves to win. It\u2019s why she wins — the drive and the motivation to win.<\/p>\n

In her mind, what do you think she thinks is possible to achieve in this game?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to say. A lot will depend on how much she will keep evolving as a player, right? That is the key, that is what we saw in all the greatest players over the past 20 years. Roger [Federer] kept getting better, Rafa [Nadal] kept getting better, so that\u2019s obviously up to her.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t like to say numbers, but she has the possibility to win several more Slams. But again, we all know how hard it is to win a Grand Slam, and there are a lot of great players out there. And every single year there are more competitors coming at the highest level. There\u2019s a breakthrough, you have a [Victoria] Mboko, a [Iva] Jovic — you see them coming.<\/p>\n

Iga was once one of those players \u2026\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes, there was a point [2022-23] that Iga was, of course, far ahead of the rest, far ahead, when [Ashleigh] Barty retired and she achieved No. 1, when Naomi [Osaka] took some breaks. But, for me, she\u2019s a player that brought female tennis to the next level, with her athleticism. She gave a good example to others and some others also wanted to achieve big things and they also brought themselves to the next level. That\u2019s how it goes. If you look at the people you compete with, you want to beat them. So how are you going to do that? By doing better.<\/p>\n

In today\u2019s game, with all the technical advances in training, equipment, analytics, nutrition, we see players thriving in their late 20s, even early 30s. That has to be encouraging for a 24-year-old?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Definitely. We all know that a tennis career is not a race. You don\u2019t need to be 17 and Top 10 in the world, it doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re going to have a better career than someone who reaches the Top 100 at 19. So it\u2019s all about how you can keep developing yourself. When you work the right way with the right people, there are no limits.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s always room for improvement — with technique, tactics. Maybe also racquets and shoes. Even recovery. But, yes, that\u2019s the fun thing about Iga — she\u2019s so young and has achieved so much, but there\u2019s still so much to achieve ahead of her.<\/p>\n

Does she believe she can return to her dominance of 2022-23?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think she thinks like that. She\u2019s just focused on short-term and the next tournament. But it\u2019s what she wants.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

INDIAN WELLS — Wim Fissette, animated and engaged, is holding another coaching clinic. Sitting in the BNP Paribas Open player\u2019s lounge on Wednesday afternoon, he […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":14721,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/soccer90mins.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Swiatek-Torso_326408.webp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/soccer90mins.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14720","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/soccer90mins.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/soccer90mins.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soccer90mins.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soccer90mins.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14720"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/soccer90mins.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14720\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14722,"href":"https:\/\/soccer90mins.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14720\/revisions\/14722"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soccer90mins.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/soccer90mins.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soccer90mins.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soccer90mins.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}