Swiatek opens clay run

Iga Swiatek opened her clay season with a straight-sets win in Stuttgart and moved into the quarterfinals in her first match with Francisco Roig in her box. (wtatennis.com) She beat Germany’s Laura Siegemund 6-2, 6-3 on April 15 in 1 hour and 30 minutes at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, a Women’s Tennis Association 500 event played on indoor clay in Stuttgart. (wtatennis.com) (porsche-tennis.com) The Women’s Tennis Association draw listed Swiatek as the No. 3 seed with a first-round bye, and the win sent her into a quarterfinal against the winner of Mirra Andreeva and Alycia Parks. (wtatennis.com 1) (wtatennis.com 2) Clay is Swiatek’s best surface: the Women’s Tennis Association said she arrived in Stuttgart with a 103-15 career record and 10 clay-court titles, then improved to 104-15 with the Siegemund win. (wtatennis.com) The coaching change gave the opener extra weight. Swiatek said she had not changed coaches often, and said Roig brought “a similar view” of how she should play, even if applying that approach in matches would “take a little bit more time.” (wtatennis.com) Roig joined her team after a difficult start to 2026. Tennis.com reported on April 16 that Swiatek had no singles title this season, had fallen to No. 4 in the rankings, and split with Wim Fissette after her loss to Magda Linette in Miami. (tennis.com) Before Stuttgart, Swiatek trained at Rafael Nadal’s academy in Mallorca, where she said Nadal’s presence on court gave her “an extra crazy boost of motivation.” She said she wanted a coach with “a good eye,” strong technical knowledge, and enough experience to help in different situations. (tennis.com) Stuttgart has been one of her strongest stops on the spring schedule. The Women’s Tennis Association called her a two-time champion there, and the tournament’s official site lists the event as running through April 19 at Porsche Arena. (wtatennis.com) (porsche-tennis.com) Her next result will show whether the new partnership can quickly change a season that had stalled before the European clay swing began. (wtatennis.com) (tennis.com)