Women’s world No.1 Iga Swiatek believes her experience at Wimbledon 12 months ago has enabled her to feel more at ease this time round.
Swiatek has established herself as one of the most formidable forces on the WTA Tour after winning 11 WTA titles within the past 16 months, including the French Open twice and US Open once. However, she is yet to shine at The All England Club where she will make her fourth main draw appearance. Her best result was a run to the fourth round in 2021. Then in 2022, she suffered a surprise third round defeat to Alize Cornet who ended her 37-match winning streak.
“Last year I felt a lot of pressure because I was No.1. That was the first year where I could just focus on practising and actually learning a lot. So hopefully I’m going to be able to use that on my matches.” Swiatek told reporters on Saturday.
“Getting used to the grass is always a tricky part because when you play well on Roland Garros, you have less time to prepare for Wimbledon. But this year I feel like I’ve done a little bit more than in the past years.”
The 22-year-old warmed up for the Grand Slam by playing in Germany at the Bad Homburg Open. In her opening match, she came back from a set down to beat Tatjana Maria, who reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon last year. She then breezed her way past Jill Teichmann and Anna Blinkova.
However, Swiatek’s run came to an abrupt end after she was forced to withdraw from her semi-final match due to suspected food poisoning. Although she is confident that the minor setback will not hamper her title chances at SW19.
“I had a really bad night. We (my team) with my conditioning coach did measurements in the morning. They didn’t really look good because I barely slept. I had a stomach ache, but I don’t know if there was something wrong or not.’ She explained.
“Later in the day I felt okay, so I’m pretty sure it’s going to be fine.”
Whilst the Pole is yet to reach a WTA Final on the grass, she has previously enjoyed success on the surface during her junior years. In 2018 she won the Wimbledon girls’ title which was the only junior Grand Slam she triumphed at.
Trying to peak during what is a very short grass swing is always a challenge but Swiatek says all the greats of the game have managed to do so. Something she aspires to also do in the future.
“I believe the best players, they can play on all surfaces. I want to kind of become that kind of a player who can play well on grass and feel comfortable there,” She said.
“I’m doing my best to just work on my skills. Last year I feel like we’ve done a pretty good job with my coach in terms of my touch, getting back slices and also playing slice sometimes.’
“This year I feel like we had more time to kind of focus on the basics and more time to also play matches. I’m using that time as much as possible.”
Swiatek will begin her campaign at Wimbledon on Court 1 at 13:00 GMT on Monday against Zhu Lin.
