In December 2021, she announced that she was ending cooperation with. For over five years, this duo has achieved great results. The greatest success was the sensational triumph of Iga in Roland Garros 2020.
In Paris, the 19-year-old Pole won, despite the fact that she was an unseed tennis player. In 2021, Iga reached the fourth place in the WTA ranking. And at the end of the season, she played in the WTA Finals, a tournament for eight of the world’s best tennis players.
Rogers called and invited
It was surprising then that Iga parted ways with coach Sierzputowski. Especially that it happened a few days after the press conference, at which the player and the coach jointly presented their plans for 2022.
Ultimately, this year Iga started with. With the former coach Agnieszka Radwańska, Świątek reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open. Sierzputowski commented on all her matches on Eurosport.
The coach got great reviews for his microphone work, but now he’s back on the courts. Shelby Rogers called me in late January. We didn’t know each other at all. When I was working with Iga, we only had two training sessions together and once Iga played with Shelby [wygrała w Toronto w 2019 roku]. But Shelby invited me to her place, to Boca Raton, Florida, for an interview and to see what her surroundings and the entire organization of her work look like. We have been working here for some time and we agreed to fly to the tournament in Doha. If we continue to cooperate well, we will extend the contract – Sierzputowski tells us.
“Iga Świątek and Shelby Rogers are extremes”
The trainer has the best first impressions of working with Rogers. – Shelby can win big games. Like with Ashleigh Barty [numerem 1 rankingu WTA] at the US Open last year or as with Maria Sakkari this year in Adelaide – says Sierzputowski. – But it’s not repeatable. This girl wants to win big tournaments and in my opinion it is possible – adds the former coach Iga Świątek.
Sierzputowski emphasizes that the very first days of working with an American ranked 47th in the WTA ranking show him that he will face completely different challenges than those he had in working with Iga.
– Iga and Shelby are two extremes. Working with a young “angry” girl who enters an adult tour is completely different than working with a mature player who has already spent a long time playing. Rogers is much older than Iga. It’s born in 1992, like me – says Sierzputowski. Let us remind you that Iga ¦wi ± tek was born in 2001.
The finances are right
Of course, Sierzputowski does not want to reveal what the fans are probably very interested in, i.e. financial details. – Let me just say that I am starting from a different position. I feel that I am valued as a coach who has already achieved something – coach of the year 2020 according to WTA tells us.
– I caught the wind in my sails here. Most importantly, I feel this could be a great project for Shelby and me. But for now we are working quietly and getting to know each other. We are both curious how the beginning of our cooperation will turn out – ends Sierzputowski.
The WTA tournament in Doha will be held from February 20-26.
Source: Sport
Tristin is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.
