The former Roland Garros champion, Iga Swiatek, was not able to secure the title this year and has, additionally, fallen in rank from 1st to 8th seed in the WTA rankings. Needless to say, it’s been a tough year for Iga Swiatek ever since the prohibited substance controversy late last year, but the question is how are she and her team pulling through now that they head into the grass court tournaments with a string of consecutive losses behind them? In a recent interview with TVP sports, Swiatek’s physical preparation coach gave fans some insights into what goes on for the Tennis star off court.When asked about the slump Swiatek has been in, physical preparation coach Maciej Ryszczuk said, “For me, the only thing that was a challenge was the fluctuations in form during the match. Iga could play fantastically, but then the quality and intensity would drop. I was only worried about these aspects.” Stressing that things were looking better ever since her performance in Roland Garros, where she was knocked out of the semi-finals by Sabalenka, it seems that Ryszczuk is still taking it day by day with Iga; however, he added that the most difficult time of the past year wasn’t the bad performances but rather the suspension due to the spiked melatonin controversy.Roland Garros 2025: Women s Singles Semifinal. Aryna Sabalenka faces Iga Swiatek POL on Philippe Chatrier court during the Grand Slam tournament, in Paris, on June 5, 2025, at the Roland-Garros stadium, – 05/06/2025 – France / Ile-de-France region / Paris – PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxFRAxRUS JulienxMattiax/xLexPictorium LePictorium_0309970When Swiatek was able to prove that she had taken the banned substance by mistake, she only received a one-month suspension; still, these sorts of things are never a good look in the world of sports and Swiatek confessed at the time that she “was scared that most people were going to turn their back on [her].” Though her team did stand by her, the tumultuous nature of the time is undoubtable, especially since it was only a little while after Swiatek split with her coach of three years, Tomasz Wiktorowski, so whether the cumulative effect of that played into Swiatek’s slump this year is yet to be determined but doesn’t seem completely unlikely.How much is Iga Swiatek’s slump affected by emotional turmoil?Whether or not Iga Swiatek is taking on the stress of the coaching change and banned substance suspension or something else altogether is not really public information; however, her display of rage at the Qatar Open semi-final match against Jelena Ostapenko in February of this year was very, very public and hinted at something else bubbling beneath the surface. After losing the match to Ostapenko, Swiatek took her racket and slammed it against the side of the court, breaking it completely! A little uncharacteristic for the usually composed Pole.To make things even more interesting, Ryszczuk brought up the fact that he is often the one giving Swiatek instructions from the stands rather than Wim Fissette, Swiatek’s second choice coach after she parted ways with Wiktorowski. Though Ryszczuk stressed that it was often him just repeating Fissette’s instructions in Polish so Swiatek could better understand, the very fact that he brought up this minor detail raised some questions with regard to Swiatek’s current relationship with her new coach.Ryszczuk even addressed the racket-smashing incident, saying, “Frustration showed that the expectations were much higher. When they are not met, sometimes emotions take over.” He said, thereby addressing the elephant in the room, i.e., Swiatek’s slump is more emotional than physical. Ryszczuk then course-corrected and proved his loyalty to the former world number 1 by adding, “However, it was Iga who had to work through it rather than it being frustrating for the team. For me, the main task was for her to look better and better physically and be healthy.” Though the grass at Bad Homburg and Wimbledon after that won’t be the best place for the clay pro to prove her physicality, it will give us all some idea as to whether she is over the emotional rut.The post Frustration Mounts Iga Swiatek as Team Member Drops Honest Take on Slump Amid Wimbledon Buzz appeared first on EssentiallySports.