Iga Swiatek explains how she left her coach in crutches and needing surgery after £86 bet | Tennis | Sport

Iga Swiatek only hired her new coach, Francisco Roig, five weeks ago – but she’s already left him needing surgery. The world No. 3 has formed a strong bong with the Spanish coach, who previously worked with Rafael Nadal and Emma Raducanu. And she had to take action when he tore his Achilles tendon while they were playing a game, with £86 (€100) on the line.

Roig, who turned 58 last month, has been spotted on crutches over the last few days, and Swiatek has now confirmed that she helped him get surgery in her home of Poland before he jetted back to Rome in time for her opening match.

After surviving a scare to beat Caty McNally 6-1 6-7(5) 6-3 on Friday, Swiatek explained that she and Roig had planned a training session at the famous Piazza del Popolo in Rome, which has been transformed into a series of clay practice courts during the Italian Open, and wanted to have some fun with a low-stakes game. It wasn’t very low-stakes in the end, as Roig tore his Achilles.

“Basically, we’re having a practice on Piazza del Popolo. It was supposed to be a live practice. We were like, Okay, I’m going to play this fun game we were playing before. I wanted to show it to him. He’s really good on the volley. So we made a bet for €100. I thought I was going to lose, honestly, because he’s been playing so great, the volley. I was like, Maybe let’s play only the singles court. It’s half-court basically. Let’s play bubbles. I want to win, I’ll make you move a little bit.

“Basically, I had 5-4 and the match point already. He did a split step and tore his Achilles. It happened on Saturday. On Tuesday, he had surgery already in Warsaw. We kind of took care of him. Yeah, he really wanted to be back, not to take time off. I really appreciate that he’s here because, for sure, it’s not easy for him. We’re trying to take care of him. We also kind of wanted to show the team effort, you know? Yeah, I broke my coach’s Achilles…”

Because they were playing in the middle of the Piazza del Popolo, there were plenty of people around to see Roig get injured. But Swiatek herself didn’t realise it was so severe, crediting her coach for being “brave” in the moment.

“I don’t think people noticed how serious it was because he was so brave in the moment. I would burst out crying. I would make such a drama. His face was like normal. I thought he was joking at the beginning. My hitting partner thought he was joking, as well,” she explained.

While Swiatek and Roig already have a great relationship, the ordeal also helped the Spaniard strengthen his bond with the Pole’s psychologist, Daria Abramowicz, who was not present for recent tournaments in Stuttgart and Madrid.

The six-time Grand Slam champion explained: “We did some bonding, I would say, because Daria went with him to Warsaw. It’s her first tournament, so they really didn’t have a chance to get to know each other. Maybe they did now a little bit. But with Francis, we had a good relationship from the beginning. Didn’t need any health issues for that.”

Roig’s injury and decision to come straight back to Rome to support Swiatek might give the world No. 3 some extra motivation this fortnight. She’s through to the third round to face either Emma Navarro or Elisabetta Cocciaretto.

EXPRESS SPORT ON FB! Get all the best sports news and much more on our Facebook page