After Iga Swiatek’s demolition of Amanda Anisimova in the Wimbledon final on Saturday, the first person she thanked in her victory speech was her coach, Wim Fissette. The Belgian joined Swiatek’s team at the end of last year, just before it was revealed that the Pole had tested positive for a banned drug. She finished a one-month ban in December, having proved that the failed test was the result of a contaminated sleeping pill.
The timing was far from ideal and shocked Swiatek, as well as the tennis world. Fissette, one of the sport’s leading coaches who won six grand slam titles with Kim Clijsters, Angelique Kerber and Naomi Osaka, had some ideas he wanted to add to Swiatek’s game but, as often happens, it took time to learn how best to get his message across.
