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No. 1 Iga Swiatek parts ways with coach Tomasz Wiktorowski after 3 trophy-laden years together

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Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved

Iga witek, of Poland hits the net with her racquet after losing a point to Jessica Pegula, of the United States during the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

Top-ranked Iga Swiatek is separating from her coach Tomasz Wiktorowski.

The Polish tennis player announced the split Friday, saying the decision was taken together.

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During the three years Swiatek worked with Wiktorowski, the Polish player won four of her five Grand Slam titles and rose to the top of the womenโ€™s rankings.

โ€œAfter 3 years of the greatest achievements in my career, together with my coach Tomasz Wiktorowski we decided to part way,โ€ Swiatek wrote in a post on Instagram. โ€œI want to start with a big thank you and appreciating our work together.โ€

Swiatek appointed Wiktorowski as coach at the end of the 2021 season. He helped her capture 19 of her 22 career titles and an Olympic bronze medal in Paris in August.

โ€œCoach Wiktorowski joined my team for three seasons, when I strongly needed changes and a fresh approach to my game,โ€ Swiatek continued. โ€œHis experience, analytical and strategic attitude and enormous knowledge about tennis helped us to achieve things Iโ€™ve never dreamed of only a few months after we started working together.

โ€œOur main goal was to become No. 1 player in the world and coach Wiktorowski was the one who said it first.โ€

Swiatek hasnโ€™t competed since losing to Jessica Pegula in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open.

She withdrew from this weekโ€™s China Open in Beijing โ€” where she would have been defending champion โ€” citing personal reasons. The 23-year-old Swiatek also pulled out of the recent Korea Open in Seoul, citing fatigue.

โ€œDue to this important change on my team, I give myself a couple of weeks to start a cooperation with a new coach,โ€ Swiatek wrote. โ€œIโ€™m in the middle of first talks with coaches from abroad (non-Polish) because Iโ€™m ready to take the next step of my career. I will let you know when I make a decision.โ€

Wiktorowski was voted the WTAโ€™s Coach of the Year by his peers last year.

โ€œCoach, THANK YOU, I wish you all the best,โ€ Swiatek wrote. โ€œI know that you would like to rest after these 3 years of hard work and traveling a lot and spending some well deserved time with your loved ones and I hope youโ€™ll get what you need.โ€

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis