Francisco Roig and Iga Swiatek took a first step together in Stuttgart, a debut that felt constructive if not yet fully synchronised. In the second set of her opening match she bulldozed a backhand winner down the line; Roig, talking with a member of her player box, noticed Swiatek watching from her seat and offered a quick thumbs up. That small exchange captured the tone of the day: a workmanlike victory and room to refine the relationship.

Swiatek beat Laura Siegemund 6-2, 6-3, overcoming a tricky opponent playing in front of home fans. It was a low-drama win, but also a reminder of areas to fix. She double-faulted seven times in the match, a serve issue that Roig and Swiatek will surely address.

The pairing follows a difficult stretch for the Pole. Her ranking has fallen from No. 2 to No. 4 this season, despite having spent 122 weeks at No. 1. She has not yet won an individual title in 2026 and, after a shock loss to 56th-ranked countrywoman Magda Linette in Miami, Swiatek decided to part ways with Wim Fissette.

Swiatek then sought a clay-focused reset at Rafael Nadal’s academy in Mallorca, a stay she described as intense. “I don’t think I ever spent so much time on court as I did in Mallorca,” she said on Wednesday. “A week full of grind.” She called the experience inspiring: “With Rafa it was a really inspiring time. Having him on the court was an extra crazy boost of motivation. He has that energy. Having him on court you want to show him the same kind of vibe.”

She left Mallorca having added Roig, one of Nadal’s long-time coaches. “I haven’t changed coaches often in my career, but I feel excited,” she says. “I was basically looking for someone with a good eye, really technical, but also a person that is experienced enough to help me through some different kind of situations.” Swiatek also emphasised openness to the new methods: “I think you need to be really open minded, and soak in this new approach. I feel like with Francisco, we have a similar view as far as how I should play.”

With Roig in her corner, Swiatek is looking to capture her first clay-court title since 2024 Roland Garros. Match one was encouraging; the real test will be whether the new pairing can convert that inspiration into results across the clay swing.

Most of the attention in the new rankings was on the men’s No. 1 changing hands, with Jannik Sinner reclaiming the top spot from Carlos Alcaraz after Monte Carlo. On the WTA side, however, an eye-catching arrival in the Top 100 deserves notice. Austrian teenager Lilli Tagger moved from No. 117 to No. 97 after advancing to her first WTA 500 quarterfinal on home soil in Linz.

Tagger, who just turned 18 in February, is the first player born in 2008 to reach the Top 100 on either the WTA or ATP rankings. Her playing style stands out: she uses a one-handed backhand, a rare stroke among the women’s tour and particularly unusual for a rising teenager.

That classic technique is reinforced by her coaching: she is currently being coached by Francesca Schiavone, the last woman with a one-handed backhand to win a Grand Slam title.

Her results to date underline the promise. Last June she captured the junior title at Roland Garros as an unseeded player, defeating four seeded opponents in six matches, including the No. 1 and No. 3 seeds, and she did so without dropping a set. In her very first WTA main draw last fall she reached her first WTA final as a No. 235-ranked wild card, finishing runner-up to Anna Blinkova.

At Linz she recorded the biggest win of her career by beating No. 21-ranked Liudmila Samsonova on the way to the WTA 500 quarterfinal.

Tagger also alters the look of the Top 100 with her backhand: she is now one of four women in the Top 100 who use a one-handed backhand, alongside Tatjana Maria (No. 63), Viktorija Golubic (No. 81) and Diane Parry (No. 100). Her rapid rise and distinctive technique make her one to watch as she establishes herself on the senior tour.

World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka has withdrawn from next week’s Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart because of an injury she said was sustained after the Miami Open.

A four-time finalist in Stuttgart, Sabalenka did not disclose the exact nature of the problem when she announced her withdrawal on Thursday. She noted the injury followed her 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 victory over Coco Gauff in the Miami Open final on March 28, a result that made her the fifth woman in the Open Era to win Indian Wells and Miami back-to-back.

Sabalenka said she was “very sad” to miss the loaded WTA 500 event in a statement posted to her Instagram story on Thursday.

“I always love coming back to Stuttgart. The atmosphere, the fans, and the support I feel there are so special to me,” she wrote. “And of course, I was really hoping to have another chance to fight for that Porsche.”

“Even though I tried everything to recover in time, I’m not ready to compete,” she added. “I’m really sorry to miss this amazing tournament. Wishing everyone a great week in Stuttgart, and I hope to see you all again very soon.”

With Sabalenka out, world No. 2 Elena Rybakina will now top a still-strong field. The tournament entry list also includes Top 10 players Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek, Jasmine Paolini, Elina Svitolina and Mirra Andreeva.

Organizers and fans lose a leading contender and a player who has come close to the title on four occasions. Sabalenka’s decision removes one of the highest-ranked participants from the draw and hands Rybakina the position of the top seed going into the clay-court WTA 500 event.