Coach of Iga Swiatek, affected by a doping affair, our compatriot Wim Fissette gets wet: “We have to change the rules”

Swiatek’s new coach since October, our compatriot Wim Fissette learned the inside scoop during the negotiations for his future collaboration. “I discovered everything lateexplained the man who is also the captain of the Belgian Billie Jean King Cup team in the Polish daily Rzeczpospolita. It was the last conversation before Iga hired me. She then wrote that we needed to talk about the topic. She told me everything, which I appreciated. It was a good start to our cooperation because we established a climate of trust. Later, when she explained everything to me, I was sure it was a clear case: she had taken a microcontaminated medication, she had been suspended for a short time and she had proof of everything, advice from experts, results of tests carried out by independent organizations.”

The former coach of Kim Clijsters and Naomi Osaka has never hesitated to link his destiny to that of Swiatek, as he confirmed in the Polish press while putting forward arguments for the rules concerning anti-doping to change.

“There is a difference between taking a performance-enhancing drug and detecting something extremely tiny in the blood. Today’s technology is simply very precise. The situation with a contaminated agent that Iga experienced could happen to anyone. The rules need to be changed You know, tennis players even have to be careful about what they eat or who they shake hands with. It shouldn’t go that far. those who take something and who are not We don’t want those who are innocent to be portrayed in a bad light.”

“I want to help him win Wimbledon”

Regarding the purely sporting side of this new relationship, Iga Swiatek mentioned in the media of her country that Wim Fissette had great ambitions for her. This was confirmed a little later by the person concerned.

“You can’t become a coach of someone like Iga without big ambitions, right? We always go to tournaments to win them. That’s what unites us. I want to help him win Wimbledon one day. I don’t promise it, but I think we will have a chance. I also want to develop her tennis. But when we talk about someone who has been at the top of women’s tennis for two years, we don’t think about it. big changes, but improvements in details. We see in the statistics that there is little room for development. This is a process that cannot be forced or accelerated. The goal is not to change it, but to develop Iga’s game. .”

So that she can regain the upper hand against competition which has become increasingly tough over the last few months with players like Sabalenka, Gauff, Rybakina but also Paolini and Zheng.

“Iga is still a young player (Editor’s note: 23 years old) who can become betterconcluded Wim Fissette in his interview. We cannot be satisfied with the path she has reached. You have to look ahead. However, I think in the near future – during the season – we will see a more diverse game. There will be more drop-shots, net finishes and attempts to dominate the action with the forehand, which is an incredible weapon.”