Iga Swiatek unveils bold serve overhaul in dominant Madrid opener

The world number four is chasing her second title at the clay-court WTA 1000 tournament in Madrid after her triumph in 2024.

The Pole is playing her second event since she hired Francisco Roig, a former coach of her idol Rafael Nadal, last month. She was beaten by Mirra Andreeva in the quarter-finals at the WTA 500 in Stuttgart last week.

The 24-year-old trained with Roig at Nadal's academy in Mallorca prior to the clay-court season, and she also received some input from Nadal himself during some of her on-court sessions.

After beating Snigur in Madrid, Swiatek was asked about the tweak she has made to her service motion.

"I wouldn't use past tense, because I feel like I'm still changing it, but this was the movement that I was supposed to already have in Stuttgart, but it didn't really go as I wanted to," said the six-time Grand Slam champion.

"I wasn't quite sure, I mean, I analysed the matches after, and I realised that in Mallorca, I was serving a little bit differently. So today, I felt like this was it, and I just need to keep doing that, keep focusing on it, and remembering the right movement.

"Because in Stuttgart, I gotta say that I felt that it's gonna go a little bit more automatic, but a week in Mallorca is not enough for the body to remember the movement, so today, for sure, was a step forward.

"Honestly, you never know with your body how fast you're gonna catch a movement, so some shots, it's easier for me to change, some, a little bit harder.

"I'm not planning or expecting anything. But I, for sure, know that I have a lot of belief in this movement, and with my elbow being in this position and being more bent, so it's something that we wanted to achieve [for] quite a long time, and when we adjusted my movement a little bit, it wasn't really working.

"My hand always came back to the same position, but now we did a more drastic change, and I feel like it helped me to reset a little bit, and actually, from this reset, start the movement how I should."

On Nadal, Swiatek added: "I don't know if he's watching or not.

"I know he's super busy, even more busy, I think, than when he played. So we're not in constant touch, but I know that I can always ask him anything if I want.

"So this is really comforting, and it also shows how good of a person he is, that he's available."

In other Madrid Open results, world number one Aryna Sabalenka defeated Peyton Sterns 7-5, 6-3 while seventh seed Elina Avitolina was knocked out by Anna Bondar 6-3, 6-4.

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