Swiatek's childhood coach: Mental collapse after Olympic loss to Zheng Qinwen, psychologist is dragging her down!

After a shocking second-round exit at the WTA1000 Miami Open, Swiatek quickly announced the end of her collaboration with coach Fisette, a relationship that lasted just over a year. In October 2024, the Polish star teamed up with Belgian top coach Fisette to start a new chapter. Although she failed to maintain her dominance during last year's clay season, she later won her first Wimbledon title, temporarily dispelling doubts about her declining form. However, entering this season, Swiatek has faced a poor start, exiting in the quarterfinals at the Australian Open, Doha, and Indian Wells, and suffering a first-round loss in Miami.

Swiatek's sluggish start to the 2026 season Photo: Visual China

After her Miami defeat, Swiatek admitted in an interview, "My tennis completely collapsed," apologizing for her recent slump and stating she would regain confidence through hard training. Amid this ongoing downturn, parting ways with her coach is a reasonable move, but many point out that her psychologist, Daria Abramovich, might be the deeper reason she struggles to recover.

Notably, after ending his collaboration with Swiatek, Fisette unfollowed Abramovich on social media but still follows Swiatek and other team members. This move hints at possible internal team conflicts.

Swiatek's childhood coach, Artur Szostak, shares this view. In a recent interview, he bluntly stated that the root of Swiatek's problems traces back to the Paris Olympics two years ago. After missing the gold medal (semifinal loss to Zheng Qinwen), her mentality began to crumble, and her psychologist Abramovich failed to help her address this issue, even negatively impacting her.

"At that time, everyone said she (Swiatek) failed to fulfill her father's hope for an Olympic gold medal. From then on, Iga's psychological state started collapsing, and this condition has persisted. If we exclude Wimbledon last year, Iga hasn't won any major title. So I blame Abramovich: if she claims to be a professional, why couldn't she help this struggling player? Iga hasn't forgotten how to play tennis; I believe the main cause is psychological."

Szostak believes Swiatek's relationship with her psychologist may create long-term dependency, harming the player's development more than helping. He also criticized the power structure within Swiatek's team, noting that those responsible for tennis technical preparation are subordinate, while Abramovich holds real authority.

Swiatek's psychologist Daria Abramovich (third from right) Photo: Player's social media

"I know many coaches and tennis circles, and I stay connected with them. No player collaborates with a psychologist to this extent like Iga does. Of course, psychologists can help, but it must be moderate. In my view, in the psychologist-athlete relationship, there's often entanglement and dependency, with the psychologist holding advantage. This might be true for Iga too; it has become a fixed pattern, perhaps she doesn't know other ways."

This collaboration began in February 2019. Over the past seven years, Swiatek has won six Grand Slam titles and long held the world No.1 ranking. She has said working with her psychologist is crucial: "I'm lucky to have met Daria in my life journey; she helped me build my team and advised on role division. I can talk to her about any topic, even daily trivial matters."

Szostak further added that Swiatek's father might also be part of the problem but didn't elaborate much. He instead commented that Swiatek shouldn't apologize in post-match interviews: "I don't want a player who has won six Grand Slams, long been world No.1, and still ranks among the top, now standing before cameras apologizing for losing to Linette and crying. Is she 12 years old? To whom and why is she apologizing?"

Swiatek trained under Szostak as a child, then worked successively with coaches Piotr Sierzputowski, Tomasz Wiktorowski, and Wim Fissette. Fisette was her first non-Polish coach. According to Polish media, Swiatek will soon head to the Nadal Tennis Academy to prepare for the clay season, where her new coach may emerge.

Two days ago, Swiatek announced via social media her decision to withdraw from the Billie Jean King Cup qualifier scheduled for April 10 in Poland against Ukraine. She admitted playing at home is special, but the current tough situation forces her to pause and focus on her own training. Swiatek will make her clay-season debut at the WTA500 Stuttgart starting April 13.

(Text, Editor: Wang Fei)