rewrite this title Iga Swiatek’s new coach brutally slammed by Coco Gauff’s ex-coach & analyst for ‘awful’ decision

Iga Swiatek’s new coach Francisco Roig has come under fire for the way he ended his coaching relationship with ATP star Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in order to join the Pole’s team. Most recently, Coco Gauff’s ex-coach Brad Gilbert and tennis analyst Nick Monroe brutally slammed Roig for his ‘awful’ decision.

In March 2026, Iga Swiatek parted ways with coach Wim Fissette after several uninspired results. A few weeks later, the former WTA World No.1 announced that Francisco Roig was going to be joining her team ahead of the upcoming clay season. While many fans showed their enthusiasm for the partnership, Mpetshi Perricard left the tennis world reeling when he revealed that Roig had left his team without warning in order to coach Swiatek. The French star stated that he did not even get the news himself, with Roig asking his agent to deliver the news.

Reacting to this development, both Brad Gilbert, who led Coco Gauff to her maiden Grand Slam title, and Nick Monroe showed their disagreement with the decision, with the latter saying in a segment on the Tennis Channel,

“From my standpoint, that’s ridiculous. That’s awful. From a coach, call your player, tell them you’re going to be moving forward. You know, it’s not that big of a deal. Mpetshi Perricard has also moved on. Now, Greg Rusedski is going to be his coach, but go to the player. Don’t go through the agent. Don’t go through the back door and leave it like that.”

For his part, Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard told L’Equipe that he had been disappointed by Roig’s behaviour, saying,

“I trusted his word, what he could bring to the table. To throw all that away so quickly seems like a shame to me. Then, it’s a tough, ruthless world. I had never seen anything like it. It was very surprising and disappointing.”

Francisco Roig is best known for having worked on Rafael Nadal’s team between 2005 and 2022. He has since worked with several prominent ATP and WTA players.

Iga Swiatek shares glimpses of her training in Mallorca alongside Francisco Roig and Rafael Nadal

Since announcing her partnership with Francisco Roig, Iga Swiatek has been training at the Rafa Nadal academy in Mallorca as she gears up for the clay season. The Pole has been giving fans regular updates about her preparations and she recently shared glimpses of her practice sessions as she gears up for the clay season under the watchful eye of Roig and Rafael Nadal.

Iga Swiatek has had a slow start to her 2026 season. The 24-year-old failed to make it past the quarterfinals in her first three tournaments of the year, before making an opening round exit at the Miami Open. The Grand Slam champion is next scheduled to compete at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix and will be hoping to find her footing on her favoured surface.

Edited by Riddhi Acharya