American Legend Questions Iga Swiatek’s 2025 Season After a Turbulent Year of Coaching Changes and Doping Saga

Iga Swiątek suffered ups and downs last season. First, she parted ways with her coach, Tomasz Wiktorowski, in October after three years of partnership. Then, a month later, she tested positive for the banned substance Trimetazidine(TMZ). Now, the Polish player is gearing up for the 2025 season with her new coach Wim Fissette. Although she revealed her renewed zeal for the upcoming tournaments, the former pro, Andy Roddick, raised concerns over her next season.

In this week’s episode of Served podcast, Andy Roddick and Jon Wertheim delve into the WTA Top 20 rankings at the conclusion of the 2024 season. They reflect on their own performance throughout the year, discuss their aspirations for 2025, and identify the areas they need to improve to achieve their goals. There, they also discussed Swiatek’s 2024 season, including coaching changes and doping saga, at length.

Roddick said, “My only concern about Iga Swiatek, at scale, is how she lands in Australia and how she deals with questions…she is sensitive…I am just concerned about her coaching change, this news coming out, how she shows up in Australia, obviously needs to perform a little bit better at slams outside of the French Open, which she is even listing she owns at this point.“

The American former player’s statement highlighted his intrigue in seeing how Swiatek maintains her pace, given how her doping ordeal impacted her mental health. He also highlighted Swiatek’s coordination with her new coach Wim Fissette. Reflecting on this, Roddick believed Swiatek needs to show her brilliance outside the French Open’s clay court. Considering she has four of them already and just one hard court major(won at the 2022 US Open).

Fun fact: Swiatek has only advanced till the Semis in Australia. This happened in 2022. But she was defeated at the hands of Danielle Collins.

Like Roddick, former pro-Andrea Petkovic also raised questions about Swiatek’s potential in the upcoming Australian Open tournament. She believed after what happened with Swiatek last season, she might need more time to show her best form.

Andrea Petkovic believes Iga Swiatek’s first month in the 2025 season might have “some residue”

The German legend attended Rennae Stubbs’s podcast and delved into Iga Swiatek’s case after she failed the doping test. At the beginning, Petkovic believed that the Polish star would excel in the Melbourne Major, but her perspective shifted after Swiatek’s challenges in recent months.

Petkovic said, “I thought this was going to be the year, 2025, where Iga [Swiatek] does really well at the Australian Open, I know how her brain functions and I know she wants to get better at the things she is not as good at yet, and I know she has worked specifically in the off-season on that.” The German pro here highlighted Swiatek’s zeal and spirit to offer her best performance and show her growth in surfaces she might not be very comfortable with.

However, Petkovic brought a shift in her tone and said, “I just think that with her personality and her anxiousness there might be some residue in the first month, I just don’t know if she can bring it in the first month on a surface which traditionally doesn’t suit her well with all the residue of what happened at the end of the season. Once she shakes it off, I think she will start playing really well again, I think she will be great in 2025, even better than she was this year.”

Iga Swiatek’s bad times are finally over, but her 2025 still remains in doubt. However, following the Polish star’s spirit and zeal, it seems that she will soon overcome her mental barrier and showcase her brilliance on the court. Do you think she can do it?