Swiatek & Coach Part Ways; Djokovic Hopes Nadal will Return in 2025

Novak wants Nadal to return in 2025
Photo Credit: JC

Iga Swiatek, the Roland Garros winner from 2024, brought out a major announcement ahead of the brand new season in 2025, where she will part ways with his current coach.

The Polish tennis star impressed the Paris audience with French Open tickets, where she was crowned French Open Champion yet again, and was seen celebrating the win with her coach, Tomasz Wiktrowoski.

However, when Swiatek returns to the courts next season, she’ll have a completely new outlook on her team, as the world number one doesn’t intend to stop at anything but silverware.

End of 3 Years

” After three years of great career achievements, my coach Tomasz Wiktorowski and I decided to part ways,” Swiatek wrote on Instagram.

“After an important change in my sports team, I decided to withdraw from the tournament in Wuhan,” she later said in a post on the X account of the Chinese tournament.

“I’m sorry for fans in China and those who wait to see me play, but I hope you understand that I need some time.”

After her US Open quarter-final defeat in September, Swiatek also withdrew from the prestigious Beijing 1000 WTA tournament, where she was the defending champion, citing “personal matters.”

“I want to start with a big thank you and appreciating our work together,” Swiatek said of fellow Pole Wiktorowski.

“His experience, analytical and strategic attitude, and enormous knowledge about tennis helped us to achieve things I’ve never dreamed of only a few months after we started working together.”

Swiatek said she has held “first talks” with possible new coaches and added, “I’m ready to take the next step of my career. I will let you know when I make a decision.”

The 23-year-old won the French and US Opens during her first season with Wiktorowski and has held the world number-one ranking since November 2023.

She has won five Grand Slam titles, including four French Open trophies.

It will be an interesting season coming up for Swiatek as she faces stiff competition from Aryna Sabalenka, who has two titles to her name in the 2024 season.

Fans are already anticipating the battle-off between Swiatek and Sabalenka in 2025 and are awaiting to purchase French Open tickets.

Roland Garros Winner Alcaraz Wins China Open

Carlos Alcaraz rallied from a set down and held his nerve in a tie-breaking decision to beat defending champion Jannik Sinner 6-7(6) 6-4 7-6(3) in the China Open final and win his fourth season title.

French Open and Wimbledon champion Alcaraz, who won both of his previous meetings with Sinner this year, recovered from a slow start to wrap up victory in three hours 21 minutes on Wednesday

In the process, he improved his head-to-head record with the Italian to 6-4.

While the stage might not have been as grand as it was in some of their recent encounters, Sinner and Alcaraz pushed each other to the limit in the latest chapter of the burgeoning rivalry.

“He could have won in two, I could have won in two, it was a close match. Jannik once again showed that he’s the best player in the world, with the level that he’s playing,” Alcaraz, 21, said.

“It is unbelievable, it’s a high quality of tennis, physically, mentally, he’s a beast.

After both players defended break points in a cagey start, Alcaraz seized the early break for a 3-1 lead when Sinner’s backhand went wide before consolidating the advantage in the next as his Italian opponent netted a shot.

World number one Sinner, whose last win over Alcaraz came in the tournament’s semifinals last year, gradually found his range to level at 5-5 and saved two set points in the tiebreak to clinch the first set.

Alcaraz was on the ropes early in the second set, and Sinner pushed him hard in a 15-minute game, but the second seed successfully held serve for 4-4.

Sinner’s failure to break in the lengthy game appeared to take the wind out of his sails as Alcaraz sped through the next two games to level the match at a set apiece.

The Spaniard cranked up the intensity on his forehand and broke for a 2-1 lead in the third set, but with victory seemingly in sight, he suffered a lapse in concentration and allowed Sinner to level at 4-4.

In the deciding tiebreak, Sinner snatched control to take a 3-0 lead, but some excellent work at the net helped Alcaraz edge a couple of rallies and go ahead 4-3, before finally clinching the title with an emphatic cross-court forehand winner.

The tiebreak defeat was uncharacteristic for Sinner, who had won 18 out of his past 19 tiebreaks.

The result prevented Australian Open and US Open champion Sinner from becoming the first man to retain the crown at the China National Tennis Centre since Novak Djokovic won four straight titles between 2012 and 15.

Sinner has been playing in Beijing under fresh scrutiny and has admitted to sleepless nights over his doping case, which was reignited at the weekend when the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said it had appealed the decision to clear him.

“It was a great battle, again,” said Sinner, who twice tested positive for a steroid in March but tennis authorities cleared him of wrongdoing and allowed him to keep playing.

In August, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) accepted Sinner’s explanation that the drug entered his system unintentionally when his physiotherapist used a spray containing it to treat a cut and then provided massage and sports therapy to the player.

For now, neutral tennis fans are already hinting at the newest rivalry forming between Alcaraz and Sinner. The French Open ticket holders for the semifinal saw an epic clash between the two.

In a game that went to the final set, the Spaniard held the nerve to win at the end.

But the tennis world knows that the 2025 season will savor a new set of encounters.

Djokovic Wants Nadal for 2025

Novak Djokovic believes Rafael Nadal could be tempted to play in the 2025 French Open despite living through the “unique moment” of what was generally accepted to be the Spaniard’s farewell.

Djokovic and Nadal have met 59 times in their careers, with 10 of those clashes taking place on the red clay of Roland Garros. The encounters between Djokovic and Nadal are still few of the highest sell out games, in terms of French Open tickets.

Djokovic was among the thousands in attendance on Court Philippe Chatrier on Monday as 14-time champion Nadal was knocked out in straight sets in the first round by Alexander Zverev.

“It was great. Iga (Swiatek) was there, (Carlos) Alcaraz was there, and we all wanted to glimpse the atmosphere of that possibly unique moment that could be his last. But it doesn’t appear like that,” said Djokovic after making the second round on Tuesday.

When asked if he expects Nadal to play in the 2025 French Open, when he will celebrate his 39th birthday, the Serb replied: “Yeah, it looks like.”

“I think he played very well. Even though he lost in straight sets, the second and third were close.

“He could have easily won one of those two sets, and maybe the match was going in a different direction.”

After the match, Nadal said he was unable to make any commitment on his plans.

Meanwhile, Zverev joined Djokovic and Robin Soderling as the only men to have beaten Nadal at Roland Garros since 2005.

“He was a bit unlucky with the draw because Zverev is in great form, winning Rome, and he was serving extremely well,” added Djokovic.

“It’s tough to play Sascha when he’s feeling the ball so well. But it was great to watch. I don’t recall the last time I watched a set of any match live on that level, other than Davis Cup matches.”.

Fans looking to purchase French Open tickets will excitedly await for any news from Nadal.

About Suneer Chowdhary 2132 Articles
Suneer is a Mumbai-based freelance sports journalist with a special affinity towards cricket and tennis. He has also covered six ICC tournaments including Cricket World Cups and Champions Trophy.