Renowned tennis Brad Gilbert will be keeping close tabs on Iga Swiatek’s game in the coming months as he is eager to see how her new coach Francisco Roig and tennis great Rafael Nadal improve her game.
Following a difficult start to the 2026 season, Swiatek has slumped from No 2 to No 4 in the WTA Rankings as she has failed to make it past the quarter-final in the three months of the year.
On the back of her second-round defeat at the Miami Open, the reigning Wimbledon champion announced that she had parted ways with Wim Fissette, who had only joined her as coach in October 2025.
Three weeks later and she announced Roig – who had coached Emma Raducanu until the end of January – would become her new mentor, starting immediately.
Swiatek started her new partnership with Roig at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca and 22-time Grand Slam winner Nadal was on hand to share tips with the former world No 1 and he even taught her how to play his trademark forehand.
Gilbert, who coached the likes of Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick, Andy Murray and more recently Coco Gauff, started off by explaining the difference between Roig’s former charge Raducanu and his current one Swiatek.
“So the big difference between those two [Swiatek and Raducanu] is movement,” he said on the Big T Podcast.
“Iga is unbelievably fast. She’s probably the second-best mover on the women’s tour behind Coco. So if he does want her to, or Rafa wants her, to maybe extend the points, she can do that.
“I feel like with Emma, maybe she doesn’t feel like she can do that. She probably needs to add that to her game.”
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Of course, the big question is whether or not there will be obvious changes to Swiatek’s game following her sessions with Nadal and Gilbert is keen to see if her game evolves.
The American added: “But it will be interesting to see how he does it – how much Rafa is going to be involved, because, what he’s been doing the last few days – you see him on the practice court – has to be invaluable.
“And he was showing her the ‘buggy whip’ forehand, I thought that was incredibly cool. A lot to learn from.
“And on this surface, at least you’re starting with a player that’s most comfortable on the surface. You know, she’s been great at Roland Garros, and can she put it together and all of a sudden get some wins?
“She’s yet to make a semi-final this year, but I think that you’re starting on a surface that she’s most familiar with.”
The post Brad Gilbert underlines big difference between Iga Swiatek and Emma Raducanu after Roig switch appeared first on Tennis365.
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