Swiatek skips second Taylor Swift concert to be rested and ready for tilt at first Wimbledon title
World No 1 Iga Swiatek revealed her dedication to her quest for a first Wimbledon title on Saturday as she said she skipped the chance to see Taylor Swift in London this week in order to be fully rested. The Pole had been to the see the American singer in concert in Liverpool earlier this … Continued
Antoine Couvercelle / Panoramic
World No 1 Iga Swiatek revealed her dedication to her quest for a first Wimbledon title on Saturday as she said she skipped the chance to see Taylor Swift in London this week in order to be fully rested.
The Pole had been to the see the American singer in concert in Liverpool earlier this month and said it was so exciting she realised that going for a second time might affect her preparations for Wimbledon, which begins on Monday.
“I was in Liverpool to see Taylor,” she sqid. “It was amazing. I actually was thinking about going here (in London) for the second time. My team would was like, OK….Basically after this concert, like three days after I was so excited I couldn’t sleep and everything. We decided it’s better to focus on the tournament.
“But it was a great experience. Last year I went to Adele after my match. Wait, it was two years ago. In Hyde Park. I think if I’m going to lose early, then I’ll have more time to go there.”
Skipping warm-up events
Swiatek has yet to go beyond the quarter-finals in four visits to Wimbledon, grass presenting her with far more problems than the clay of Roland-Garros, where she won for a fourth time earlier this month.
The 23-year-old has been working hard on her game to make the small adjustments needed to succeed on the surface, though, and hopes that a few weeks off the Tour between Paris and Wimbledon will pay dividends.”
“Day after day I felt like I’m getting more rhythm and I can really feel the ball better,” she said. “I feel good. For sure we approached this year a little bit differently basically because of the (number) of matches that I played in the first part of the season.
“I could probably squeeze in one more tournament before Wimbledon, but I don’t know if I would be able to physically be in a good shape till the end of the year. You kind of have to choose what’s better also for the future. I think that was smarter decision this year. Next year we’re also going to see how my results are going to look like before Roland Garros because it all comes up to the final decision. Now I’m here and I feel like I need to use these days of practicing here to feel as much as possible on the court.”
Looking for more free points on serve
The main adjustment to her game, she said, is to her serve, which she hopes will yield more and more free points in the next two weeks.
“That was also one of the goals, to sometimes win kind of by serving and making pressure with that,” she said. “I managed to do that on other surfaces. Hopefully on this surface, it’s going to be also similar. Here it’s even more important to serve well the first serve. It seemed fine in practices, so I’m going to try it out on matches with some stress coming in and everything. Hopefully this progress that I’ve made is going to pay off.”
