“It’s easier for it to click this year” – Why Iga Swiatek is primed to play her best tennis at Wimbledon
As she makes her fourth Wimbledon main draw appearance, world No 1 Iga Swiatek is coming into her own on the grass.
Iga Swiatek Wimbledon 2023 | Fotoarena / Panoramic
A tricky 2022 grass-court season feels like a distant memory now. After a disappointing third-round finish at the All England Club, world No 1 Iga Swiatek cuts the figure of an extremely focused athlete on Wimbledon’s grass, one that is embracing the challenge of the sport’s most slippery surface with open arms.
On Monday she definitively ripped past China’s Zhu Lin, 6-1, 6-3, setting a second-round class with Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo. It’s yet another sign that Swiatek is learning to thrive on the grass, even if she will never be as comfortable on it as she is on the red clay of Roland-Garros, where she is already three-time champion.
Swiatek – the pressure was big in 2022
The 22-year-old looks a lot more relaxed this year, and the reasons for that are obvious.
Last year at Wimbledon, she rode a 37-match winning streak into the third round, as the spotlight shined ever brighter on her monumental season. Though she didn’t make much fuss about it at the time, the pressure of playing with that winning streak took a toll on her psychologically.
“Last year I just felt like I still have this streak going,” she told reporters on Monday. “After Roland-Garros, kind of everybody was talking about that. It was a lot on my shoulders when I got into the tournament.
“Obviously I tried to kind of just work through it, not really focus on that, what I usually do – really I’m not looking at numbers or stats – but it wasn’t easy, especially having just played one tournament on grass last year. I think that’s why was a little bit more tricky because I felt, rusty, mentally, in terms of the focus tennis-wise because I didn’t play any matches on grass.”
2023 is a different year for Swiatek, and the pressure is different as well. With many pundits expecting former Wimbledon runner-up Aryna Sabalenka and defending champion Elena Rybakina to continue to establish themselves as premier forces at Wimbledon, Swiatek can operate a little more under the radar as she continues working on developing technically and tactically as a grass court player.
“I think this year is much more comfortable for me,” she said. “For sure winning a Grand Slam this year, it feels like I kind of reached my goal. I was really kind of happy and I could celebrate after. But last year, I just felt more expectations – I think that’s the difference.”
Focus on baseline game and footwork
There are two more reasons that Swiatek is looking like more of a threat this year on grass. First, she elected to play a warmup tournament in Bad Homburg and gained comfort while winning three rounds. Second? It’s evolution, baby.
The Pole spent much of 2022 working on traditional grass court tools, like attacking with and defending against slice.
“I remember we did a lot of, like, things that were connected to touch and slices, getting back slices,” she said. “I think it’s great. That’s kind of what Agnieszka Radwanska was using a lot, what my coach kind of taught me that last year.”
This year, she’s spending more time trying to play the type of tennis that works for her by focusing on getting into her preferred baseline patterns.
“This year I feel like we did more in terms of just like my baseline game, but also footwork I think because I just had more time to try all these things that I practiced on matches in Bad Homburg,” Swiatek said.
No matter how you slice it, Swiatek’s progress adds up to a much more lethal player this year at Wimbledon.
“It’s hard to point one thing because we’re usually working on everything in tennis, you know?” she said.
“But I just feel like it’s easier for it to click this time because I’m not that rusty. I played some matches. I felt like I can do it. Gave me a lot of confidence.”
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