ROME (AP) — It was supposed to be a fun game between Iga Swiatek and her new coach on a special court in downtown Rome to help promote the Italian Open.
It ended with a torn Achilles’ tendon for Francisco Roig, who was recently hired by Swiatek, the six-time Grand Slam champion.
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Poland's Iga Swiatek returns the ball to United State's Caty McNally during their match at the Italian Open tennis tournament, in Rome, Friday, May 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
United State's Caty McNally returns the ball to Poland's Iga Swiatek during their match at the Italian Open tennis tournament, in Rome, Friday, May 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Poland's Iga Swiatek serves the ball to United State's Caty McNally during their match at the Italian Open tennis tournament, in Rome, Friday, May 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Poland's Iga Swiatek returns the ball to United State's Caty McNally during their match at the Italian Open tennis tournament, in Rome, Friday, May 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Swiatek recounted that there was a 100 euro ($120) bet on the line for a volleying game and Swiatek had match point when the injury happened.
“He did a split step and tore his Achilles. It happened on Saturday. On Tuesday he had surgery already in Warsaw. We kind of took care of him,” Swiatek said after a three-set victory over American opponent Caty McNally in her opening match Friday.
Roig, who formerly coached Rafael Nadal, was hired by Swiatek after she parted ways with Wim Fissette.
“He basically just missed one practice,” Swiatek said. “It’s not easy right now in the practices because he can’t be next to me. But we’ll make it work.”
The practice session was held in the downtown Piazza del Popolo.
“I don’t think people noticed how serious it was because he was so brave in the moment,” Swiatek said. “I would burst out crying. I would make such a drama. His face was like normal. I thought he was joking at the beginning. My hitting partner thought he was joking as well.”
Swiatek is a three-time champion in Rome and is preparing for the French Open, which she has won four times.
So has the injury helped her bond with her new coach?
“We had a good relationship from the beginning,” Swiatek said. “Didn’t need any health issues for that.”
AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
Poland's Iga Swiatek returns the ball to United State's Caty McNally during their match at the Italian Open tennis tournament, in Rome, Friday, May 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
United State's Caty McNally returns the ball to Poland's Iga Swiatek during their match at the Italian Open tennis tournament, in Rome, Friday, May 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Poland's Iga Swiatek serves the ball to United State's Caty McNally during their match at the Italian Open tennis tournament, in Rome, Friday, May 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Poland's Iga Swiatek returns the ball to United State's Caty McNally during their match at the Italian Open tennis tournament, in Rome, Friday, May 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
LONDON (AP) — Prime Minister Keir Starmer insisted Friday that he will not resign after bruising elections that saw his governing Labour Party suffer big losses and the hard-right party Reform UK make major gains.
The local and regional elections are widely seen as an unofficial referendum on Starmer, whose popularity has plummeted since he led Labour to power less than two years ago
Voters have grown impatient for economic growth and dramatic change after 14 years of Conservative government, and many Labour lawmakers have become despairing at the government's failure to deliver.
Starmer said he took responsibility for the “very tough” results but would not quit.
“The voters have sent a message about the pace of change, how they want their lives improved,” he said. “I was elected to meet those challenges, and I’m not going to walk away from those challenges and plunge the country into chaos."
Reform UK, led by the veteran nationalist politician Nigel Farage, won hundreds of local council seats in working-class areas in England’s north such as Hartlepool that once were solid Labour turf, and also made gains from the Conservatives in areas like Havering on the eastern edge of London.
Farage said the results marked a "historic change in British politics.”
Reform took seats from both Labour and the Conservatives as results were tallied across England. Votes were also being counted in contests for semiautonomous parliaments in Scotland and Wales.
A Labour rout in the elections could trigger moves by restive party lawmakers to oust a leader who won a landslide victory in July 2024. Even if Starmer survives for now, many analysts doubt he will lead the party into the next national election, which must be held by 2029.
Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy cautioned the party not to topple the prime minister, saying “you don’t change the pilot during the flight.”
Labour lost votes to Reform UK, running on an anti-establishment, anti-immigration message, and also to the Green Party, whose popularity has risen under self-described “eco populist” leader Zack Polanski. The Greens beat Labour to win the mayoral race in London's Hackney borough and hoped to win hundreds of council seats in urban centers and university towns.
The Conservative Party also lost ground, with the centrist Liberal Democrats making some gains.
Tony Travers, professor of government at the London School of Economics, said the elections show established parties struggling “to respond to populists on the left and right who appear to provide painless and simple solutions to intractable political and economic problems.”
The results reflect a fragmentation of British politics after decades of domination by Labour and the Conservatives, and make the outcome of the country's next national election hard to predict.
John Curtice, professor of politics at the University of Strathclyde, said Britain is entering a new political era where "none of the parties are very big.
“Even Reform are probably not quite at 30% of the vote, so the fracturing of British politics is underlined by these results,” he told the BBC.
Reform UK also is eyeing breakthroughs in Scotland and Wales, though the pro-independence Scottish National Party and Plaid Cymru are more likely to form governments in Edinburgh and Cardiff.
The SNP is expected to win the most seats in Edinburgh, where it has governed since 2007.
Labour conceded it would lose control of Wales, where it is likely to be pushed into third place behind Plaid Cymru and Reform UK. That is a big blow. Labour has dominated Welsh politics for a century and has led the Cardiff-based government since it was established in 1999.
It would also give both Scotland and Wales governments led by parties committed eventually to leaving the United Kingdom.
Starmer’s popularity has plunged after repeated missteps and U-turns on policies such as welfare reform. His government has struggled to deliver promised economic growth, repair tattered public services and ease the cost of living — tasks made harder by the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, which has choked off oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.
The prime minister has been further hurt by his disastrous decision to appoint Peter Mandelson, a scandal-tarnished friend of Jeffrey Epstein, as Britain’s ambassador to Washington.
Poor election results could trigger a challenge from a high-profile rival such as Health Secretary Wes Streeting, former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner or Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham. Alternately, Starmer could face pressure from the party to set a timetable for his departure after an orderly leadership contest.
“I don’t think Keir Starmer should survive these results," said Labour lawmaker Jonathan Brash, who represents Hartlepool in Parliament. “We have to be bolder, and we have to go further. And quite frankly, we need new leadership in order to achieve that.”
Votes are counted for the 2026 local elections at the Silksworth Sports Complex in Sunderland, England, Friday, May 8, 2026. (Owen Humphreys/PA Wire/PA via AP)
Votes are counted for the 2026 Senedd, Welsh Parliament, elections in Newport, Wales, Friday May 8, 2026. (Andrew Matthews/PA via AP)
Britain's Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch meets supporters in Westminster after the Tories took control of Westminster City Council from Labour in the local elections, in London, Friday May 8, 2026. (James Manning/PA via AP)
The dogs Ingrid, Frank and Zizzi pose for a photographer as they wait outside a polling station in London, Thursday, May 7, 2026, during the UK 2026 local elections.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage poses for a photo during a visit to Havering Town Hall, in Romford, England, Friday May 8, 2026, a day after the local elections. (Yui Mok/PA via AP)
Britain's Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer meets Labour Party members at Kingsdown Methodist Church Hall, in Ealing, west London, Friday May 8, 2026, a day after the local elections. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP)
Britain's Reform Party leader Nigel Farage poses for photographers with his poll card at a polling station in Walton on the Naze, England, Thursday, May 7, 2026 before he casts his vote in the local elections.(AP Photo/Richard Pelham)
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer and wife Victoria arrive at a polling station in central London, Thursday, May 7, 2026 to cast their votes in the local elections.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
