Drama! Świątek poaches someone else's coach, the person involved: Hard to accept

After the "blow" of the Sunshine Double, Świątek immediately began restructuring her team, terminating her contract with Fisset and quickly hiring Francisco Roig to join the coaching staff. The footage of her training hard with Roig, even with Nadal on the clay courts, excited fans and signaled her strong comeback. However, this change greatly shocked Perricard, who was completely unprepared for it. After being caught off guard by the coach's sudden departure, he did not hide his frustration.

“My agent told me,” Perricard said in an interview with L'Équipe reporter Frank Ramella. “He (Roig) didn’t inform me directly. I thought I could trust his commitment. It’s regrettable to move on so quickly. This is a cruel world. I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

Roig's sudden departure left him shocked and struggling to accept the reality. Perricard stated that the emotional impact lingered as he tried to process the situation. “It took me half a day to recover. Was it because of me? Actually, not at all. It had nothing to do with me; their training collaboration video came out very quickly. But I don’t think that (with Świątek) project was finalized within 24 hours.”

He originally thought their collaboration had more time to continue. He said they had planned to work together at least until late June, through the grass season. He was even prepared to collaborate closely with Roig during the clay season preparation phase. “But before that, everything was going very smoothly. We were supposed to go to Spain for a week of joint training.”

So far, Perricard's 2026 season has not been smooth, which further compounded the disappointment from this incident. The French player has not yet started his clay season, currently ranked 57th in the world with a record of 5 wins and 9 losses, including early exits at the Sunshine Double tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami.

This situation also reflects deeper instability in his career, especially after parting with his long-time coach Emmanuel Planque earlier this year. Following that split, he briefly worked with Filip De Haas, and then the partnership with Roig ended abruptly.

Despite possessing one of the most explosive serves among young players, his progress stalled after breaking through to the fourth round of Wimbledon in 2024. Now, Perricard is trying to rebuild his team again, inviting former US Open finalist Greg Rusedski to join his coaching staff.

“It’s actually quite good,” said the former world No. 31 about Rusedski. “I contacted him when looking for a coach. He was very interested, and his playing style is similar to mine: powerful serve, strong presence at the net, aggressive play. I’m confident he can help me.”

Greg Rusedski was one of the most dominant serve-oriented players of his era, and his experience is expected to help this 22-year-old clarify his positioning and approach on the court.

Interestingly, Świątek's former coach Fisset also commented on recent events, adding complexity to the situation. After coaching top players for many years, Fisset deeply understands how cruel the sport can be at the highest level. He knows that when results fall short of expectations, the coach is often the first to be replaced. Players cannot replace themselves, and when other team members have closer, longer relationships with the player, the coach becomes the easiest change to make. Last month, when Świątek decided to part ways with him, Fisset was not surprised by this reality.

“Some teams remain very calm in so-called difficult situations, while others feel changes must be made,” Fisset said in an interview this week. “As in all sports, the coach is always the first to leave. At the highest level of sports, this is part of the job. You have to accept it.”

At 24, Świątek was already one of the most dominant players in tennis when Fisset joined her team. She then held five Grand Slam titles, had set a record of 37 consecutive wins, and had spent 125 weeks as world No. 1. By the end of 2024, she ranked second in the world but still held extremely high expectations for herself; failing to win more Grand Slams and return to the top spot counted as failure in her eyes.

“They were almost unbeatable for several years,” Fisset said. “External expectations will be very high. Every loss hurts exceptionally. I clearly understood the difficulty of this collaboration project. It was impossible to do better.”

However, the tennis world does not stop; the tour has moved straight into the clay season, and everyone’s attention turns to what comes next.（Source: Tennis Home Author: Spark）