Wim Fissette: "Iga's Work Is Exceptional," Yet Now "She Needs The Wins"

Read an exclusive interview with Iga Swiatek's coach Wim Fissette about what it is to coach a player who somehow is not allowed to lose. Also catch up with Madrid's action, post power outage included.

Welcome back! Sorry for the delay in our usual “Monday edition,” but as you all sure know, there was a gigantic power outage - Apagon, they call it here - in Spain on Monday, and I had to save what was left of my computer and phone batteries to stay connected to the world somehow and walk back from the stadium. 1h30 of walking wasn’t that bad… People were so calm all around, even those in cars stuck in traffic. Anyway, what a WTF day we all had! Players were lying all around, candles at the players’ restaurant so they could see, and no ride back for them as there were no traffic lights + roads were either cut or packed with stuck cars. I heard rides from the Caja Magica started again at 8 pm. But all of this was nothing compared to what so many people went through on that day, stuck in metro tunnels and whatnot. SO, here we are, back for another TSS Monday edition - on a Tuesday.

In today’s edition, I’m bringing you an exclusive interview with Belgian coach Wim Fissette about his work with Iga Swiatek (yes, we talked about her serve). I’m also sharing quotes from Grigor Dimitrov after his win - over two days - that Tuesday, from Denis Shapovalov about dealing with a rough bout of illness and that celebration gate, from Bianca Andreescu about her return to the sport, and from Coco Gauff about her Miu Miu collaboration.

This publication is supported by readers, so if you like what you’re reading, don’t hesitate to spread the word, try a paid subscription, like this post, or leave a comment, as it helps TSS discoverability. You can also prefer to buy me a cuppa!

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INTERVIEW

WIM FISSETTE: "Iga's Work Is Exceptional,” Yet Now "She Needs The Wins"

Wim Fissette has worked with enough top female players (Kim Clijsters, Simona Halep, Angelique Kerber, Victoria Azarenka, Naomi Osaka) to know that it’s not always sunshine and rainbows at the top. Still, with Iga Swiatek, he might currently be going through something he hasn’t experienced before: Coaching someone who’s not supposed to lose all season long. We caught up in Madrid the day before Swiatek was supposed to play her fourth round (then Apagon happened) and talked about his vision of his work with someone who’s seen as the female version of Rafael Nadal on clay, and whose 2025 season has been so far more difficult than Swiatek would have wanted.

Wim, you're in a unique coaching situation here as you're coaching someone who, for some reason, isn't allowed to lose…
Wim Fissette: That's correct.

How do you even work with someone who is supposed to win everything?
Fissette: It's a very good question because usually, you start a new job after someone has had a bad year. And it's kind of like a new start, and you can come up with some fresh ideas. That's how it usually starts. Now, this is, of course, very different because she was extremely successful. If you look at the first six months of the past year, it's hard to do better. So that's something you know in advance, and you obviously speak about it. And the thing is, of course, when you're that successful, it's not like you're going to change your game a lot. You're going to try, first of all, to go a little bit in the same direction and fine-tune some things, looking for opportunities to make small improvements. But it's definitely a different approach where you're like, ‘Okay, well, let's speak. What are important things in your game that you feel are very important?’ And then you continue on that road. That's really important because you won't make big changes.

Players always say they’re chasing the best version of themselves and always need to get better. But how does that work when maybe you’re already so close to it?
Fissette: But if you don't improve, you go backward. So it's really important to look for improvements, but it's a fine line. Because obviously, a lot of things she did in the past worked really well. So it's about finding that balance. That is really the difficulty.

She said after the match against Alexandra Eala here in Madrid that she had gone through some tough weeks. As a coach, what do you hear when she says ‘tough weeks’? Is it just results? Is it the way she plays?
Fissette: She is used to winning. She was very happy to be number one in the world. And if we look at the season, she has been playing some very good tennis. She has won a lot of matches. She has beaten a lot of really good players. So it's not that it's a disappointing season so far, but she wants more, right? She is not happy to play semis, she wants to win. And in that way, it's a bit confusing to her. Where she is like, ‘OK, actually, my tennis is kind of there, but still, the results are not what I want.’ And it has different reasons. Sometimes you play some players that are a little bit more difficult for you. Every player has some opponents that are more difficult than others. So you have some draws that didn't help you.

The only thing is that you have to stay positive and confident in your progress and in your beliefs about yourself. For her, it's just important now to continue the work. And honestly, her work is exceptional: Every practice, she is really focused, super motivated, and very hungry.

She takes every single practice seriously. She prepares every match with the same intensity. So she is doing everything, and then you just have to trust. But of course, also being proactive to constantly correct things that may not be working well. And just trust that progress and believe that it's going to change.

I was going to say you are so experienced with incredibly skillful players but who also run so much on confidence (Kim Clijsters, Simona Halep, Angelique Kerber, Victoria Azarenka, Naomi Osaka). Is it the same case with Iga? Does she need that confidence to get the game going?
Fissette: Confidence, in women's tennis, is the biggest thing. I've scouted opponents who, in the first round, aren't playing well, but they still win the match, and then they win two matches in a row. Suddenly, they become completely different players. So they have the confidence to trust their shots. That is just so important. The difficulty in women's tennis, I feel, is to get a lot of confidence from practice. Because, a lot of times, it's still about winning. And how doesn't always matter. For Iga, of course, confidence is also really important: She's a perfectionist, focused on every little detail. She gets confidence from practice and feeling solid, and feeling good in her movement. But she also needs the wins, especially since she's been spoiled with winning tournaments.

She doesn't know what it means to lose too many matches…
Fissette: No, exactly. So it's important. Winning a tournament would help her a lot. But anyway, I think the tennis is there. She's playing well. Again, that little part of confidence, sure, but it comes with winning. You cannot force that somehow. You need to trust that it's coming.

Do you feel you need to cut the noise around her? You've had so many top players that you, of course, know about the effect of the pressure coming from outside. And we know that Iga can be a pretty sensitive personality.

Fissette: Yes, but that's something she's very good at. For almost six months now that I've been with Iga, I can say she's someone who can focus completely on her tennis. And also, let's say decompression: the days when she doesn't have a match, she really uses that to de-stress and go into nature. And not be on social media or watch TV. That's part of her success, for sure. But it's not easy because, of course, you have the press conferences, and you're being asked questions. But whatever she can control to avoid the noise, she does it really well.

You coached against her for a while, so when you joined her team, what were the areas you thought were keys to work on?
Fissette: Well, for me, it was more about focusing on her strengths, on what makes her so special, I think. When you coach someone, you often see weaknesses a little bit more, whereas when you coach against someone, you see their strengths. When we played against her, it was her spin, her heavy forehand, the fact that she was moving so well in defense, but also, whenever you’d hit a little bit shorter, she was able to attack. But for me, if there's one thing, it would be the heavy spin forehand. That's hurting so much.

And you can't lose a shot like this… Or do you still need to work on it?
Fissette: Definitely, you need to work on it. Also, you need to do the right things tactically to also have the option to play the shot. You need to get a little bit more time, but if you're too close inside the baseline, you don't have the time. So you need to back up a little bit, not rush, and then be able to play the heavy spin ball a little bit more.

Was her serve an issue at all this year?
Fissette: That’s a topic people like to speak about (he smiles). If you look at her: You see her movement, her backhand, and forehand, and see that she's an unbelievable player. And then the serve, sure, she's not like Rybakina or Madison Keys. But Rafa was also not John Isner. Is there one player who has the biggest serve in the world, the best movement, and the best groundstrokes? No. Maybe you can have it all. Maybe in the future, we can, but now you have to accept that it’s the way it is. It's something she's working on, something we're working on, and we have a vision of how we want to go to get better there.

And maybe, seeing what's happening with Coco, we see it’s not always a good idea to tweak that shot so much. It's tricky….
Fissette: It's tricky. And you have to find the right moment. You're not going to make a big change in the middle of the season. When I looked at Iga's statistics before we started working together, I saw she actually won the highest percentage of her own service games. Higher than someone with maybe a better serve, like Aryna Sabalenka. And it's not because she's acing so much, but just because the service is good. And from there on, she takes it with her groundstrokes. If she has that high percentage of her service games, it means the serve is not something super necessary to dig into. It won't be the biggest key.

You never coached Rafa Nadal, but you're on clay with someone who is seen as the female version. How does that feel? From inside, we know it's crazy, but people think she's going to put her foot on clay and be unbeatable.
For me, Iga is the best female clay court player ever. She changed a little bit women's tennis there, in the way she played on the clay. Of course, this surface is more natural for her and fits her game and movement. So it helps her. But she still needs to work hard to find her game. I also saw that from Rafa: when I’d watch him at Roland-Garros when he didn't have a match, and he would still work two hours a day on his patterns, trying to build his game. That’s the same for Iga starting her clay season: It’s all about building and building the game, learning from matches, and fine-tuning. But it's not something immediate.

It’s not magic.
Fissette: There's no magic no, for sure.

Rafa used to say, ‘If I win Roland-Garros, my season is a success.’ It's a huge pressure, so I’m wondering if you’re trying to tell Iga that it wouldn’t be the end of the world.
Fissette: It’s not. That's what I focus on the fact that she's just able to play or win every tournament. She has chances in every tournament, and she did it in the past on faster hard courts like Cincinnati. And she won the US Open and now was close at the Australian Open. So the issue with grass is that in past years, she won in Madrid, Rome, and Paris, so after that, you need to give yourself a little time off, but then you don’t have time to prepare. So that is the difficulty. Let's see how it goes this year. But also, in the end, who is good on grass? The really big hitters or the super good movers. So there are chances there, and no reason why she couldn’t. But, of course, she needs time to adjust and get confidence on the surface.

We often talk about the pressure on the players and less about the pressure on the coaches. How does that feel for you right now? You’ve had many great players, but maybe it doesn’t change the level of pressure you feel now…
Fissette: You always feel pressure. But for me, it's more about the fact that I'm always someone who works and thinks in the long term. I look to improve the player. I look for things to do better, and then I feel results are going to follow. But of course, you feel expectations, you read things. But when you’re working with a team, everybody knows the difficulties and the things we have to deal with. It's not always easy, but as long as we do the hard work and the homework, and as long as we try to be better every day and we’re training on the right things, I do feel success is going to follow.

On the other hand, you also expect the player and their entourage to be patient and understand the process. I've experienced it also last year when sometimes the player or the entourage was getting impatient for the results. But as a team, we see the development, we see the work, and that is what counts at the end. The rest… We cannot always control everything. We cannot always control emotions on the court, either. I think with Naomi, we had an unbelievable development in so many ways, like the way she was focused at practice and the way she got into being three hours on the court and just developing the game. But she had a lot to catch up on, and that needed time. But in the end, I respect everyone’s professional decision. It's a professional decision. It's part of the job.

Did it help to have worked with Naomi, who’s more introverted, and then to work with Iga, who shares this trait with her? Or are they so different that it couldn’t help you at all?
Fissette: I honestly feel like they're very different. Yes, they're both a bit introverted. But in their way of thinking, it's really different.

How do you adjust every time? Because you had a few interesting tempers to coach!
Fissette: (He laughs) It's the balance between really adjusting and still staying true to your own ideas and beliefs. It's not easy. You try to be the best possible coach. Obviously, the communication with the whole team is very important. Communication with the player is super important. And, yes, finding the balance between adjusting to what the player wants and needs and your own ideas. It's always that, and then also making sure you have the same long-term vision. And then you go together for that vision.

What would be your ideal process with Iga? If everything goes well, let's say at the end of the year, when you look back, what will make you say, ‘Okay, I’ve done a good job”?
Fissette: Let's say that Iga, under all circumstances, stays really true to her game and that she uses her strength really well against different types of opponents. And that, step by step, she may get a little bit more variety in the game and develop her game. She's already on the way to developing the game.

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ATP/WTA - MADRID

They said what?

Novak Djokovic: I think there’s just one thing to remember from Madrid 2025 as far as Novak is concerned: It’s when the unavoidable end of his tennis journey hit him. “Things are different, obviously, with my strokes, with my body, with my movement, it's the reality that I have to accept. I'll try to make the most out of these new circumstances that I have, particularly on Grand Slams, where it counts the most for me, I would like to do my best. So let's see what happens.”

From swearing “f. tennis” on the practice court to admitting he had maybe played his last Mutua Madrid Open, Djokovic went through it in Madrid this year. So, was it your last time in Madrid, Novak? “It could be. It could be. I'm not sure if I will come back. So, I don't know, I don't know what to say. I mean, I'll come back, maybe not as a player, of course. I hope it's not, but it could be.”

Djokovic cannot accept not playing the way he has always played, and clearly, it’s been a year now of him trying to accept his body couldn’t handle the usual intensity he needs, but his mind just can’t take it. He was great last year, from Roland-Garros to the Olympics (in a very unique Djokovic way, he peaked after injuring that knee!), and maybe he now thinks it should have ended there. Without the chase for the 25th Major, I think it’d have ended there. Getting injured in Melbourne and retiring in the semi-finals was his worst-case scenario coming true. Miami was an unexpected resurgence, yet he couldn't get that title, and then clay came back to hit him hard.

Novak has always needed to play a lot of hours on that surface to reach the level he desires. And clearly, in this day and age he is now, he cannot. So now what? I tend to think that Wimbledon will decide on that. If Djokovic sees signs, and by signs, I mean wins, that he still has a shot at Grand Slam titles, he’ll keep trying. That’s the last thing keeping him in the game. So, as often with him, we’re back at “Will He, Won’t He.” Yet, I cannot shake the feeling that something has broken in his willpower and that without it being somehow healed, it’s going to be a tough ask to get to 25. If he does it, though…

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🎧 Grigor Dimitrov, on: Being interrupted by the power outage after missing a match point and how to mentally not care about it the next day, the bigger picture of his career, accepting that his game “sucks” right now but that winning ugly is going to be a huge help to get better, and electronic line calling doubts. He also talks about how he likes to indulge here and there because he comes from a place where it wasn’t on the cards and because it’s how he makes sure his career is going to keep lasting.

🎧 Denis Shapovalov, on: Trying to recover from a virus he’s been dealing with since before Indian Wells, and that has left him without energy for many days and with a lingering cough, playing in Madrid as if it’s hardcourt season and the celebration gate of Munich. Listen:

Bianca Andreescu (beaten by Elena Rybakina, 6-3 6-2) in the second round :
“I want to continue to play these matches and just gain confidence in my shots because I'm definitely not there yet. I really need that consistency. (…) All I can say is I'm just happy with my body and how I will always fight to the last point, even if I'm not playing my best. And that's what I did. (…) Clay is definitely one of the toughest for me to really gain my rhythm and all of that. It's nice that my match with Kessler went really well because that definitely gives me confidence. But again, it's just that consistency because I can be happy with one match, but it just needs to show up every match, you know.

I know I'm a bit hard on myself, but I do want to continue to give myself grace because of everything that I've been through. (…) On the practice court, I'm good. I play really, really well. I just need that pressure and that competition vibe to really know where my level is at and to really practice, going for my shots. There's no comparison to actually competing. And that's all I can ask for.” Andreescu tried to go directly play another event in Lerida, a WTA 125, but she lost her first match against Kimberly Birrell (6-2, 6-2). At least she scored one big win on the court: convincing Nike to let her play in these shorts. I asked her about it after her first-round win because I had a feeling it was not the original plan. She laughed and said she was afraid someone would ask. Nike’s original outfit was a skirt, but Bianca wanted to enter her shorts era, and she also felt very comfy in them, so she pleaded with Nike, and they caved, mostly because it was the same color anyway.

BUSINESS/MEDIA

• The deal was clear: Andy Murray wouldn’t talk about his work with Novak Djokovic. No problem, let’s chat about something else! It’s not like it’s hard to find topics you’re interested in asking Sir Andrew about. So, instead of trying to see how his new job is going with his former nemesis, we talked about how the new generations should forget about the insane achievements of his Big 4 era when it comes to the never-ending stretch from Indian Wells to Roland-Garros. Murray also explained why he preferred the one-week Masters 1000 events. You can read it all on Tennis Majors.

• Carlos Alcaraz didn’t give his team the memo to maybe avoid sending him under the bus in his own documentary. Full disclosure: I haven’t been able to watch the documentary on Netflix because I’ve been buried under work, and then Spain lost all power. Yet, I’m now very curious to have a watch because I’ve read these Juan Carlos Ferrero quotes about how Alcaraz is maybe enjoying his partying life too much to commit to the sacrifices needed to reach wannabe-GOAT level.
  
  “We’re here to fight for you to be the best, for the qualities and opportunities you have. In the end, if you’re not sure, if you want to be number 15 in the world, we’ll lower the expectations. But the way I am, I think I’d find it very hard to keep going,” he also said. Ferrero has always been someone who speaks his mind, and it’s surely also what made him a very good coach. I’m glad - for Alcaraz’s sake, too - that he’s not letting go. At this level, you need people who tell you the truth and keep you on track. It’s also very interesting to see Alcaraz wondering if he even wants to be the best. And I didn’t have him as a party boy!

• Jannik Sinner continues to build his off-court career. The World No.1 announced the launch of his foundation, aimed at empowering children and young athletes. It’s a non-profit organization. What got my eyes is the names you can find on the foundation’s board. Of course, Alex Vittur (Sinner’s friend and manager) is there, but more importantly, you have Stefano Domenicali, the president and CEO of Formula 1, and Luca Maestri, the former CFO of Apple. I mean…

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TRAIN HARD, PLAY HARD, DRESS THE PART

Coco Gauff for New Balance x Miu Miu

Coco Gauff has for now signed the fashion move of the year, and I’d say the greatest tennis fashion move since Naomi Osaka’s last US Open blockbuster. I’ll add Marta Kostyuk’s Wilson dresses to that list. The New Balance x Miu Miu collab will launch at different events this year, starting with Rome. And it’s absolutely fire. I asked her in Madrid about the genesis of the collab and her thoughts about it:

“New Balance and Miu Miu obviously have worked together a few times on their shoes and different collaborations, and I have a long-time relationship with New Balance. Miu Miu was kind enough to dress me for the Oscars, so that's kind of a little bit before that is when it kind of started, and then I got to look at some of the designs and pick out what I wanted and different colorways, and we settled on what we came out with. It’s super exciting to do something like this in tennis and exciting for a big fashion house like Miu Miu to want to get involved in tennis, and especially in female sports as well.”

Below, she talks a bit more about the collection, explaining why she wanted the pieces to be “timeless.”

EDITOR’S PICKS

WATCH: Elina Svitolina confirming she’s back to a very high level this year. Helped Ukraine qualify for the BJK Cup Finals, won the title in Rouen, and clinched a spot in the third round in Madrid after beating Elena Rybakina, last year’s semi-finalist. As we say in France, “Aging Like Fine Wine.”

READ: Australian player Max Purcell accepted an 18-month ban for an anti-doping breach (intravenous infusions).

READ More: The USTA takes a step toward more diversity in tennis by partnering with the ATA.