Iga Swiatek's Coach Reveals His Biggest Lesson of 2025

Communication has been key to Wim Fissette's improvement as Iga Swiatek's coach.

Wim Fissette has worked with Iga Swiatek for one complete season. | IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire

The 2026 WTA season was a rollercoaster year for Iga Swiatek, but overall, it was a campaign that will be remembered for consistency and resilience.

Swiatek struggled with a slump through the clay court season before catching fire on grass and capturing her first title at Wimbledon. She remained one of the most consistent players for the remainder of the season before ultimately falling to a surging Elena Rybakina and Amanda Anisimova in the WTA Finals.

This year also marked the first full season with Wim Fissette as her head coach. Swiatek parted ways with Tomasz Wiktorowski last October and quickly hired Fissette.

Iga Swiatek speaks with Wim Fissette and Daria Abramowicz on the practice court. | IMAGO / Newspix

Fissette recently participated in a very in-depth interview with Dominik Senkowski for the Sport.Pl. The story covered several intriguing topics and is worth translating for non-Polish-speaking fans.

One of the most interesting questions Senkowski asked Fissette was what the most important thing he had learned was as Swiatek's coach. His answer was enlightening as it shed light on their relationship and the positive signs of growth we saw over the second half of the season.

"There is a lot of it, but I think that the most important thing is communication," said Fissette. "Previously, she had the opportunity to work only with coaches from Poland. Communication in Poland looks different than in English. The same words in Polish sometimes have a completely different meaning than in English.

Iga Swiatek works with Wim Fissette and Daria Abramowicz. | IMAGO / NurPhoto

Not everything was as clear to her as it was to me. I think now we know exactly what we're talking about when I use different words. Our communication has been good over the past few months. It works both ways - Iga also knows in which direction I want to go. That's why I think that proper communication with Iga is the most important thing I've learned during this season."

After plummeting in the WTA Rankings after the French Open, Swiatek finished the season as World No. 2 with a singles record of 62-17 with three singles titles.

The 2026 WTA season will be here in less than two months. Fans can expect more growth from Swiatek's partnership with Fissette during their second full season working together. Stay locked into Sports Illustrated's Serve On SI for all of your tennis news from the court and beyond.

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