Iga Świątek suffered a major setback ahead of the Italian Open as her newly appointed head coach, Francisco Roig, suffered a serious injury. The Pole has now provided some background on how the injury occurred and the amount of downtime Roig could face.
Roig was appointed Świątek’s head coach prior to the start of the clay-court swing. She selected the Spaniard after reportedly taking advice from her idol, Rafael Nadal.
Iga Świątek Reveals How Coach Francisco Roig Suffered Serious Injury
Świątek started her Italian Open campaign with a hard-fought 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-3 win over Caty McNally on Friday. After the match, the six-time Grand Slam champion revealed that Roig had sustained a torn Achilles tendon during a live practice event at the Piazza del Popolo last week.
The two bet $118 while playing a volleying game last Saturday, and the injury occurred when he took a split step. He has since undergone surgery and is already back in Świątek’s corner.
“I don’t think people noticed how serious it was because he was so brave in the moment. I would burst out crying. I would make such a drama. His face was like normal. I thought he was joking at the beginning. My hitting partner thought he was joking as well,” Świątek said on Friday.
She also spoke about having to make adjustments due to Roig’s injury but expressed confidence that it would not affect her performance at the Italian Open.
“He basically just missed one practice. It’s not easy right now in the practices because he can’t be next to me. But we’ll make it work,” she said.
The Pole is looking to win a fourth Italian Open title, having come out on top in Rome in 2021, 2022, and 2024. After that, she will set her sights on winning the French Open for the fifth time in her career.
The season so far has not gone according to plan for Świątek, who arrived in Rome with a 14-8 win-loss record. She parted ways with Wim Fissette after her early exit from the Miami Open and made the quarterfinals in Stuttgart before succumbing to illness in Madrid.
Świątek had a few scares in her second-round match against McNally at the Italian Open. The 24-year-old let slip two opportunities to serve for the match and seemingly lost focus in the second set. She did manage to break her opponent’s serve 7 times and will take encouragement from how she handled the pressure to close out the match.
