World number one Iga Swiatek admits she is feeling comfortable at Wimbledon this year after beating Lin Zhu 6-1 6-3 in her opening round match.
It was a dominant opening round win for the former Juniors champion as she produced 22 winners in her opening round win that lasted 81 minutes long.
The world number one is looking to better her performance from last year where she went out in the third round to Alize Cornet.
Speaking in her post-match press conference Swiatek cited last year’s performance and admitted she is feeling more comfortable this year, “Well, the thing is that last year I just felt like I still have this streak going. After Roland Garros, kind of everybody was talking about that,” the Pole admitted after the match.
“It was a lot kind of 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, yeah, it wasn’t easy, especially having I just played one tournament on grass last year. I think that’s why was a little bit more tricky because I felt, like, rusty, kind of mentally in terms of the focus tennis-wise because I didn’t play any matches on grass.
“I think this year is much more comfortable for me. 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.”
So far Swiatek’s comfortability on grass is helping as she cruised into the second round as well as reaching the semi-finals in Bad Homburg.
The world number one also spoke about Agnieszka’s Radwanska’s influence on her game as she was working with Tomasz Wiktorowski, the former coach of Radwanska.
Swiatek admitted there was a clear game-plan in place before Wimbledon to work on specific elements of her game heading into the third Grand Slam of the year, “Well, I kind of just sat down this year and I tried to remember how we practiced, what we have done these two weeks before Wimbledon,” Swiatek said.
“I remember we did a lot of, like, things that were connected to touch and slices, getting back slices. 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 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.
“It’s hard to point one thing because we’re usually working on everything in tennis, you know? 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.”
Swiatek’s renewed confidence will look to continue in her second round when she takes on either Martina Trevisan or Sara Sorribes Tormo.
