Iga Swiatek never expected to win the 2023 Wimbledon Championships, and she didn't, but she probably did better than she thought she would.
The Polish player doesn't have a lot of experience when it comes to playing on grass, and it's by far the surface she struggled the most in the professionals on the WTA Tour. Interestingly a teenage Swiatek won the Wimbledon Juniors Championships, however, playing in the professionals sees her playing players with far more experience on the surface.
After crashing out against Elina Svitolina in the quarter-final, the Polish superstar reflected on her grass experience on Instagram talking about her Wimbledon and Bad Homburg runs. She was ultimately content with the progress made on the surface, which was her main goal for this year, getting better and improving.
It's been a while since I wrote more than few sentences here and maybe now it's a good opportunity to elaborate. What a journey on grass this year. I'm proud and content we made it to play two tournaments and achieve semis in Bad Homburg and quarter-final at #Wimbledon. It's a big step we took.
I put in a lot of work, learnt a lot and what's better: I found some joy in playing on grass. We know what to improve, what to work on and focus on and that's the most important part of this experience for me this year.
The Instagram post also thanked her coach, her psychologist, and her fitness coach who were all vital in her being able to turn around so meaningfully on grass. She jokingly took some credit for the results as well, saying that she did work too.
I want to thank my coach Tomasz who taught me so much on this surface this year, my physio and fitness coach Maciej who helped me change surfaces and adapt so quickly and to my psychologist Daria for helping me to find joy and self-efficacy on grass. You're the team! 🫶 I did some hard work too, you know. 😅
When it comes to the upcoming schedule, Swiatek will first take a trip to relax a bit away from the tennis courts and then return to home soil in Warsaw. She made it to the quarter-final last year but was beaten by Caroline Garcia.
And that's why it's time for some little trip without tennis. See you soon in Warsaw! Thank you for supporting me on my journey.
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