Iga Swiatek backs Nadal's former coach to reignite her season

Iga Swiatek is hoping that the partnership with the new coach, Francisco Roig, will help her achieve her goals when she begins her clay-court season at the Stuttgart Open this week, after a disappointing start to the year.

The Polish world number four was eliminated in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open and tournaments in Doha and Indian Wells before losing to Magda Linette in the second round of the Miami Open last month.

Following a rough period, Swiatek parted ways with her coach, Wim Fissette and hired Roig, who is the former coach of her idol, Rafael Nadal.

"I'm really happy to start with Francis," Swiatek told a press conference in Stuttgart.

"I was basically looking for someone with a good eye, really technical, but also a person that is experienced enough to help me through some different kind of situations. I feel Francisco has lived through everything on tour.

"It's going really amazing ... I was able to find a new coach pretty fast, which is a positive thing because when you do that in the middle of the season, it's nice to have some security in that."

Six-time Grand Slam winner, Iga Swiatek, who has won four of her majors at the French Open, started preparations for the tournament that begins on May 24 with a training block at Nadal's academy in Mallorca under the watchful eyes of the Spaniard.

"I asked if it would be possible for him to come and maybe be some kind of inspiration, also hear some feedback from him," Swiatek said.

"It was a privilege to have him on court. I honestly didn't have many expectations because I know he's super busy and he has a lot of stuff to do, even though he always has different projects and everything.

"Now I'll continue with Francisco. He'll be the person that takes care of the whole process. That's the plan for now."