Iga Swiatek sizes up Francisco Roig with Rome opening ahead
Iga Swiatek says her new partnership with Francisco Roig already feels more natural. It also feels more solid and kind of disciplined, a useful read as she opens Rome against Caty McNally after a mid-April coaching change.
Swiatek on Roig in Rome
In her first substantive read on the pairing, Swiatek said, “I feel we understand each other very well.” She added, “This feels more natural and more solid and I would say kind of disciplined.”
That was the clearest public assessment yet of a partnership that began in mid-April after she parted ways with Wim Fissette following Miami in late March. Roig stepped in after a short gap, and Rome is the first major tournament where the new setup is being tested in front of her usual pressure points.
Rome opens against Caty McNally
Swiatek’s first match is against Caty McNally, with Jessica Pegula in the same quarter. The draw gives her a direct early look at whether the new coach-player connection can hold up in a section that can quickly turn demanding.
She has also been coming off a mixed run. Swiatek went 2-2 across Stuttgart and Madrid, and her Madrid week was cut short by the stomach bug that swept through the women’s locker room.
Roig, Fissette and the timing
Roig’s path to Swiatek was recent as well. He had been working with Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard at Indian Wells in March before leaving that arrangement less than a month later, and Mpetshi Perricard said he learned of Roig’s departure from his own agent.
Swiatek said the pair share a common plan for how she should play: “I think we have the same vision of how I should play, and he’s helping me to achieve that.” That matters in Rome because she has already won the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in 2021, 2022 and 2024, and the opening rounds will show whether the new structure is translating fast enough to keep her on familiar ground.
The early evidence is useful, not final. Swiatek has the words of comfort, the results of a 2-2 stretch, and a first-round opponent in McNally, which makes the next step straightforward: the partnership now has to show the same shape on court that it has in the press room.
