"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, believes that Iga Swiatek will overtake Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff to end the year as the top player again. The Pole won her maiden SW19 title, the sixth Major of her career, last week.

Iga Swiatek, who has already been the top-ranked player for 125 weeks, claimed her first Grand Slam win at the 2020 French Open. That made her the first Pole to win a Major title and the lowest-ranked Roland Garros champion in the Open Era.

Iga Swiatek continued her success in the following years, adding three more Roland Garros titles, one US Open (in 2022), and one at Wimbledon recently. She also recorded a 37-match winning streak on the WTA Tour in 2022.

After Swiatek's monumental grasscourt win that brought her back to World No. 3, Macci took to his X handle and shared his feelings about her return to form. Macci feels 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," he wrote. "Not a lot of points to defend and the Polish Punisher will be number one by years end."

Swiatek went up against Amanda Anisimova in the Wimbledon final and defeated the American in straight sets. Sabalenka, the 2024 US Open champion and World No.1, lost to Anisimova in the semis, and 2025 French Open winner Coco Gauff faced an opening-round exit.

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

Swiatek at the Championships - Wimbledon 2025 - (Source: Getty)

In a post-match press conference after Wimbledon, 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 doesn't have a lot of points to defend in the second half of the year, having failed to win a title after Roland Garros in 2024.

About the author

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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Edited by Agnijeeta Majumder