Iga Swiatek’s father, Tomasz, explained that he decided to stop coaching his daughter in order to let her “live and work the way she wants” despite being a successful sportsman himself.
The 60-year-old competed for Poland in rowing at the 1988 Summer Olympics and led Iga’s development as a tennis player before handing the reigns to Michal Kaznowski and then Piotr Sierzputowski, who was replaced by Tomasz Wiktorowski in 2021.
Wiktorowski worked with former world No. 2 Agnieszka Radwanska from 2011 to 2018 and formed a successful partnership with Swiatek, who has become a dominant force in the WTA.
Swiatek has sat atop the world rankings for 122 weeks at the age of 23, with five Grand Slam wins under her belt already – four coming at the French Open.
Her father has explained that while he still travels with her to tournaments, leaves all coaching decisions to those hired by his daughter, instead focusing on supporting her as a parent rather than splitting duties.
“I didn’t cut her off, because I’m still with her, I go to many tournaments,” he clarified to Polish outlet WP SportoweFakty. “However, I try to have my own life and let Iga live and work the way she wants. I talked to her about it before I came to the Olympics. She agreed, she wanted me to be with her during the tournament.
“I’m glad that I can be with her in the role of a parent. It’s really more beneficial for everyone when there’s a division of roles and responsibilities. The result is good results on the court. We are, above all, a family, and family is not work. Iga has specialists for that.”
Tomasz has lambasted parents who opted to become their child’s lead coach, insisting that it is “crazy” to go down that road even though he found it difficult to step aside and allow Swiatek to work with a tennis expert.
“And they are part of the crazy parents committee,” Tomasz added. “Of course, it wasn’t easy for me at first, but there was a moment when I went through a lot of things and understood what my role was. But that was quite early, before Iga started her career on the WTA circuit. I’m glad I understood it so quickly.
“Iga is so intelligent and independent that we don’t even talk about it. I don’t suggest or advise anything. She has coaches for that. I stepped aside.”
Tennis players are often coached by their own family members, most famously Richard Williams with Serena and Venus, while Judy Murray helped her sons Andy and Jamie. Rafael Nadal has also worked closely with his uncle, Toni.
But Swiatek and her father have taken a different path, proving to be the one most fruitful for their relationship and her career.
