WARSAW — Iga Swiatek's coach Francisco Roig says it won't be the "end of the world" if the former world No 1 fails to qualify for the WTA Finals for the first time in six years, as the six-time major winner faces her worst season since 2021. The 25-year-old Pole is currently ninth in the rankings heading into the Asian Swing but sits 10th in the Race, nearly 700 points behind eighth-placed Linda Noskova, after collapsing from 5-0 up in the first set against Qinwen Zheng in a fourth-round loss at the US Open in New York.
Swiatek is scheduled to play in Beijing and Wuhan as she tries to claw back the deficit, but Roig struck a measured tone about the season-ending tournament. "It’s definitely still a long way off, but yes, it’s our goal. However, if we don’t achieve it, it won’t be the end of the world. We’ll have a little more time to prepare as best we can for next season," he told Radio Zet. "Iga [Swiatek] and I talked about the WTA Finals. The point is, if we perform well in the two upcoming tournaments, we could still [qualify] depending on our opponents’ results. That’s why we want to try to achieve the best results possible without thinking about the WTA Finals."
Roig, Rafael Nadal’s former coach who joined Swiatek’s team in April, has not seen an instant turnaround. Swiatek failed to make it past the fourth round in the three majors they have worked together this year, with the high of winning the Canadian Open in August in Toronto providing precious little else to cling onto. Despite that, Roig pointed to clear progress in reducing unforced errors and improving the forehand. "Above all, she made fewer mistakes. The first rule in tennis is not to make them. I’m sure that when Iga wasn’t advancing, she often lost. It wasn’t like the other player was beating her. We were the ones losing," he said. "What does this mean? Iga made mistakes too often on her first serve. She tried too hard when she didn’t need to. But Iga is Iga. She has to try. But in my opinion, sometimes she wants it too much. Opponents should be trying to play against her, and she doesn’t have to do it every time."
"She needs to play more solidly. And in Toronto, she improved dramatically in this regard, and she also hit better-quality balls. Her forehand had a better shape, and she played better angles on her backhand. This allowed her to extend each rally, and she later found easier balls to attack instead of trying to attack from more difficult positions," Roig continued. "Fewer errors when serving high-quality balls yields a lot in tennis. With less effort, and without having to get to the ball so quickly. Sometimes Iga tries to get to the ball too quickly, and then she blocks her movement. We still need to improve all these things, and many more, but that’s the foundation."