Iga Swiatek's former conditioning coach Jolanta Rusin joins Marta Kostyuk's team years after their 'sad' split

Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk has added Iga Swiatek’s former conditioning coach Jolanta Rusin to her team, four years after her split with the Pole.

Jolanta Rusin served as Iga Swiatek’s physical preparation trainer for four years, from 2015 to 2019. She played a vital role in the World No. 1’s development during the early years of her career. Their partnership saw Swiatek jump from a ranking below 900 to the top 50.

Iga Swiatek, who currently has Tomasz Wiktorowski as her primary coach and Maciej Ryszczuk as her conditioning coach, announced that she had ended her collaboration with Jolanta Rusin after the 2019 US Open. At the time, the four-time Grand Slam champion called the split “one of saddest moments” of her career and also hailed Rusin for her supportive presence.

“I feel like everybody should know that last week my professional relationship with coach Jola came to an end and that was probably one of the saddest moments in my career so far. It's been amazing four years. I've always had a lot of fun and more importantly I've always got all the support I needed. Professionally and privately,” she wrote on Instagram.

Jolanta Rusin has now teamed up with Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk, according to the 21-year-old's latest Instagram post, where she shared the highlights of her off-season preparations ahead of her 2024 campaign.

"2024 ready!!! Love my team @sandrazaniewska @jolarusin5736 ‘Warmed up? Yeah, dead,’” the World No. 39 wrote on Instagram.

Rusin isn’t the only new addition to Kostyuk’s team. The Ukrainian’s partnership with Polish tennis coach Sandra Zaniewska is fairly new as well. The two teamed up following her 2023 Wimbledon campaign.

Zaniewska previously coached former World No. 14 Petra Martic from 2017 to 2019.

While announcing their partnership, Marta Kostyuk, who won her maiden WTA title at the ATX Open in 2023, highlighted the benefits of WTA players hiring women coaches.

“When you work with a male coach, most of them don't talk. They cannot express what you feel and adjust. I've been coached by my mom for most of my life, by a woman. I'm very happy and I really hope that examples of mine and Sandra will bring more coaches on tour and the girls will trust more women," she told WTA.

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Iga Swiatek to commence her 2024 campaign at the United Cup

Iga Swiatek and Hubert Hurkacz in action at the 2023 United Cup

Iga Swiatek will kick off her 2024 campaign soon. The Pole is set to represent her country at the upcoming United Cup, which will be held from December 29- January 7.

Similar to last year’s inaugural edition, the 2024 event will see participation from 18 countries, with Team Poland, led by WTA No. 1 Swiatek and ATP No. 9 Hubert Hurkacz, as the top seeds. Swiatek and Hurkacz were last seen in action at the ongoing World Tennis League exhibition event in Abu Dhabi.

The United Cup will also serve as preparation for the Polish No. 1 pair ahead of their upcoming mixed-doubles collaboration at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Poland's United Cup roster also includes Daniel Michalski, Katarzyna Kawa, Jan Zielinski and Katarzyna Piter. The squad will try to build on their semi-final run from 2023, where they crashed out against eventual champions USA.