STUTTGART, Germany — World No. 4 Iga Swiatek had an eventful past couple of weeks since her second-round exit to Magda Linette at the Miami Open. 

Notably, she announced a new addition to her team, former Rafael Nadal coach Francisco Roig after parting ways with former coach Wim Fissette. Furthermore, she spent a couple of days in Mallorca, training at the Rafa Nadal Academy (RNA) alongside the 22-time singles Grand Slam champion as well as Roig. 

At media day at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, where she is a two-time champion, Swiatek addressed how the partnership with Roig came to be, her time in Mallorca and more ahead of her first clay-court tournament of the season. Here are the top takeaways:

Swiatek sought experience and technical help in fast search process

The six-time Grand Slam champion said that finding a new coach can be a “tricky” process for her as she had only done that twice before in her career. Though she had some time to mentally reset back in Poland, she was focused on finding her next coach. 

She hired Roig, who was with Nadal from 2005-22 in addition to other professional tennis players, including Emma Raducanu. 

“I’m really happy to start with Francis,” Swiatek said to press Monday. “I was basically looking for someone with a good eye, really technical, but also a person that is experienced enough to help me through some different kind of situations. I feel like Francisco lived through everything probably on tour.

“It’s going really amazing. It’s a start. We’re still getting to know to each other. It was honestly a pretty fast process. I was able to find a new coach pretty fast, which is a positive thing because obviously when you do that in the middle of the season, it’s nice to have some security in that, so I could already have some even practice period with Francis in Mallorca.”

In her idea, Swiatek had been eyeing Mallorca for two months

Swiatek, who’s won four of her six Grand Slams on the Roland Garros clay, said that she had been thinking about training at RNA for the past couple months. She added that she wanted to make adjustments before her clay-court season as last year’s season on clay didn’t go to her standards. 

“I wanted to go to Mallorca because I knew the facilities there, I knew the court,” Swiatek said. “I knew I was going to do a solid work there without any other distractions.”

The opportunity was perfect for Swiatek, who was grateful that she got to meet Nadal but also meet Roig in Mallorca. It added “even more value” to the coaching search process, she said. Swiatek also confirmed Nadal won’t be a part of her team permanently, but she was honored to train with him. 

“I asked if it would be possible for him to come and maybe be some kind of inspiration, also hear some feedback from him,” Swiatek said. “It was really a privilege to have him on the court. I honestly didn’t have many expectations because I know he’s super busy and he has a lot of stuff to do, even though he always has different projects and everything. 

“Now I will continue with Francisco. He will be the person that takes care of the whole process. That’s the plan for now, and no other plans right now.”

She’s giving herself time

Swiatek added that Roig has been helpful in quickly catching the technical aspects that aren’t working, allowing herself to adjust and not stay in the “wrong patterns.” The initial collaboration has been overwhelmingly positive, Swiatek said. At the same time, she knows that not everything will change overnight and that it’s a gradual process.

“Obviously, if I didn’t do some stuff right for some months, it’s not like you’re going to wake up next day, do the right thing, it’s going to automatically be there,” Swiatek said. “I’m trying to give myself time. Francis also encourages me to do that.”

After her defeat in Miami, she said to press that she wasn’t playing well enough to have expectations for herself, and ahead of Stuttgart, Swiatek said that she won’t be too hard on herself this early.

“If you already won so many titles, there are always going to be expectations from yourself and from the outside. I think my expectations were too high for the level I was presenting. I wasn’t really playing well. So it was kind of heartbreaking. It is like a cold shower, you know? 

“That’s why my expectations would be to just improve on the practice court, then maybe on matches, but really not be too harsh on myself, not judge too quickly, but really make it full process. Like people say, it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon. I would love to come to next tournaments and have this kind of mentality.”