"Learn to play on grass" - Swiatek on her Wimbledon goals

WTA
Tuesday, 14 June 2022 at 19:15
Updated at Tuesday, 23 July 2024 at 04:01
Swiatek Iga RG2022 MartinSidorjak10

Iga Swiatek is enjoying the season of her life, but the Pole is playing down expectations of her heading into the grass-court season.

In the last few months, the world no. 1 has utterly dominated on both hard and clay courts. Her last defeat was in Dubai in February against the 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko.

Since then, Swiatek has won a remarkable 35 matches in a row. These victories came in Doha, Indian Wells, Miami, Stuttgart, Rome, and at the French Open, where she defeated Coco Gauff to claim her second title in Paris.

The 21-year-old won the girls' singles titles at Wimbledon in 2018. In fact, that triumph at SW19 was her only Grand Slam as a junior player in singles. She also won the junior doubles title at the 2018 French Open alongside Caty McNally.

That history as a young player means it is surprising to some that Swiatek now struggles more on grass than any other surface. She had an okay run to the fourth round at Wimbledon last year, falling to Ons Jabeur at that stage.

Despite her amazing level so far this year, Swiatek does not seem to have any extra confidence heading into the grass-court season. She is focused on the simple task of improving on the surface.

“My only thought (heading into Wimbledon) is I want to get ready and learn how to play on grass better and this is the only thing I’m going to be focusing on."

Swiatek added that Wimbledon was a special tournament, but that did not change the reality that she had yet to feel comfortable on the grass in her previous appearances.

"For sure Wimbledon is special but for me, the most important thing is to bring a good performance and I still haven’t reached the comfortable feeling on grass, so that’s going to be my only goal."
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