Which new coaching partnership will make a bigger difference in 2025: Swiatek-Fissette or Rybakina-Ivanisevic?

As we make our way toward the 2025 season—which begins Friday, December 27 with the United Cup—our writers and editors tackle the most important questions of the new year.

Second question: Which new coaching partnership will make a bigger difference in 2025: Iga Swiatek and Wim Fissette or Elena Rybakina and Goran Ivanisevic?

Scroll down past this article to read more Burning Questions on 2025.

ED MCGROGAN: Aryna Sabalenka made her serve, once prone to collapse under pressure, into a bonafide weapon, and it’s taken her to the top of women’s tennis. If Rybakina can make her serve, already her primary weapon, into something even incrementally stronger, she could take a similar leap. It won’t be easy, given how potent her signature shot is already, but if anyone could refine it, it’s Ivanisevic, a star server in his day.

Furthermore, the Croat’s recent run coaching Novak Djokovic could pay dividends for Rybakina. The 25-year-old with natural power and a taste for aggression feels like she should have more than just one Grand Slam title and two 1000-level titles to her name. If healthy, she generally goes deep at tournaments, but Rybakina has been outplayed at some crucial stretches. Don’t expect her calm personality to ever change, but how she plays pressure-packed moments—a Djokovic specialty—could lead to immense success.

After a 2024 season that saw Rybakina off the court for extended time, she finds herself a bit off the radar. But she’s still ranked No. 6, still possesses an imposing game, and will have had an offseason to gel with her new coach. Expectations may not be sky-high right now, but Rybakina doesn’t need to close the gap between too many players to make a significant impact on the sport.

DAVID KANE: Anyone who knows anything about women's tennis surely lit up at the news that **Iga Swiatek had hired Wim Fissette** as her new coach. The combination of Swiatek's consistency and Fissette's decade-plus record of excellence ought to strike fear into the field even as their partnership began with an ultimately unsatisfying exit from the 2024 WTA Finals.

Fissette most recently worked with four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka, but the Belgian's own (indirect) Grand Slam resume totals six, leading Kim Clijsters to back-to-back US Open wins and an Australian Open title, Angelique Kerber to a Wimbledon trophy, and Osaka to her two most recent major victories. In between, he took Sabine Lisicki and Simona Halep to Grand Slam finals and was responsible for considerable leaps made by the likes of Johanna Konta, Victoria Azarenka, and Zheng Qinwen.

I’m very excited and looking forward to working with Wim. He seems to have a great attitude, vision and huge experience at a very top level of tennis. Iga Swiatek

Swiatek comes to Fissette after an undeniably impressive season—particularly on clay, where she swept the biggest tournaments in Madrid, Rome, and Roland Garros—but at a time of uncertainty after losing her long-held No. 1 ranking to Aryna Sabalenka and serving a silent provisional ban for an anti-drug rule violation, one that was ultimately ruled to be due to a contaminated supplement. With Sabalenka looking to win a third straight Australian Open, the 23-year-old will begin 2025 as under the radar as she has been since winning her first major title four years ago, which is perhaps exactly where she wants to be.

The immensely talented and whip-smart Swiatek now has an ample off-season she can spend on improvements and strategies to counter Sabalenka's awesome power and growing variety, all under the watchful eye of the game's most successful coach. For a player known to get on hot streaks, this may be the alchemy Swiatek needs to kick off 2025 with another dominant run.

MATT FITZGERALD: Both are exciting partnerships for different reasons. But with Swiatek previously proving she can thrive under a new voice, in coming off a collaboration with Tomasz Wiktorowski that yielded four majors, I’ll go with Rybakina and Ivanisevic.

On paper, the pairing makes a whole lotta sense. Both are former Wimbledon champions and like Rybakina, Ivanisevic had one of the best serves of his generation (if not all-time). The Croat pushed Novak Djokovic to find new gains and stay motivated in a prolific cooperation that saw Nole add nine Grand Slam titles to his career haul after turning 32.

If Rybakina can stay healthy and enjoys the process of this new chapter, there’s no telling how far Ivanisevic’s impact can take her. It goes without saying that seeing the world No. 6 play with joy in 2025 would be a significant victory for Lena, and the WTA.

Stay tuned for Wednesday's question: Will 2025 be Novak Djokovic’s final season on tour?