“It will happen sooner than later” – Serena Williams’ ex-coach predicts Iga Swiatek will surpass Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff to become year-end No. 1

Serena Williams’ ex-coach, Rick Macci, believed that Iga Swiatek would eclipse Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff to be No.1 in no time and would end the year as the top player again. Swiatek won her maiden SW19 title, the sixth major win of her career.

Iga Swiatek, who was the top-ranked player for 125 weeks, followed in her sister Agata’s sporting footsteps and began making waves on the court in 2015. She claimed her first Grand Slam win at the 2020 French Open, trouncing the then-heavy favorite Simona Halep, becoming the first Pole to win a major title and the lowest-ranked champion in WTA history.

Iga Swiatek continued her success in the following years, adding three more Roland Garros titles, one US Open in 2022, and recently at Wimbledon, and recording the longest winning streak in the WTA Tour in 2022. After her monumental grass-court win as World No. 3, Swiatek reignited hopes in many hearts, including tennis coach Rick Macci.

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Macci took to his X handle and shared his feelings about Swiatek's form and felt the Pole will soon reach the top spot in the rankings, moving past Sabalenka and Gauff.

"It will happen sooner than later as Iga will again be number one on the planet because her mind is made of granite. Not a lot of points to defend and the Polish Punisher will be number one by years end."

Swiatek went against Amanda Anisimova in the finals and defeated the American in consecutive sets. Sabalenka, the 2024 US Open champion and World No.1, lost to the latter, and 2025 French Open titlist Coco Gauff faced an opening-round exit.

Iga Swiatek opened up about the adjustments she made in her training before Wimbledon

Iga Swiatek had her first victory on the grass-court major at Wimbledon this year. In a post-match press conference, the 24-year-old shared that she and her coach, Wim Fissette, worked more on the serve and forehand and not sliding as much as on other surfaces.

"Overall, we worked a lot on my forehand and the serve. I think the serve, from the beginning when we started working together, was the main key. We already did that a little bit and it worked at the Australian Open. … On grass, we knew it was going to be crucial. These two things, obviously, and the movement, not sliding as much as on other surfaces." (via WTA Tennis)

Swiatek won her first Olympic medal at the 2024 Paris Games, becoming the tennis player from Poland to achieve so.

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About the author

Agnijeeta Majumder

Agnijeeta is a US Olympics journalist at Sportskeeda. She holds a Master’s degree in English and has worked as a school teacher, a blogger, a content writer and a sports writer over the past 5 years. A lover of high-adrenaline track and field events, she was also a sprinter during her school days.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone happens to be her favorite Olympian, and the athlete’s feat of breaking four records within 13 months inspires her, apart from the American's body language on and off the track. Grant Hackett swimming with a partially dysfunctional lung and winning gold in Athens is her all-time favorite Olympic moment.

Agnijeeta believes that deriving of unique angles from podcasts and interviews carried out by Olympics.com, along with hype-building of potential Olympic events on social media can help fill the coverage gap during the off season.

When not at her work desk, Agnijeeta likes to sing and paint. She also plays string instruments like guitar and ukulele and is an avid player of word puzzles.

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